Anata Wa
by Shadowsakura321
Summary: Sakura never knew a simple mission would lead to this. Feeling as if she started the great Konohagakure war, Sakura has to choose between her love, and her family. It looks like she's made her decision but how far can one go to get what they desire?
1. Chapter 1

Hey! I am back with my first multi-chaptered fanfic! I usually work on one-shots so I am really nervous! Reviews are always welcomed. Please read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate?

_**Anata Wa…?**_

_**'And You Are…?'**_

_**By: Shadowsakura321**_

The times they spent together. The days they shared together. Threw bad times, near death, they were together forever. Team Seven had conquered the unconquerable. The times Sakura peeled apples for Sasuke and the time she waited by his bedside. The times he protected and saved her. The last time he thanked her.

Sakura knew that Sasuke wouldn't be the way he was today if the Uchiha massacre hadn't happened. Sure, he would still compete with Neji and Naruto and train but he would have fun and have an enjoyable time in Kohona, surrounded by his dearest friends. But, he had to leave. In order to kill…

Uchiha Itachi.

Sakura clenched her fists as she read the ANBU report. Itachi and the Akatsuki had been spotted on the border of the Fire Country. They were coming for Naruto. And their speed was dramatically increasing. It had been five years since Sasuke had left and Sakura had beaten Hyuga Neji for ANBU captain. She had surpassed the Godaime was the head of the hospital.

Sakura looked up "Shikamaru!" "I need you to go get Naruto immediately and tell him to meet me at the Hokage's office" Shikamaru opened an eye "hai" he said lazily and poofed away. Sakura took off her medical jacket and teleported to the Hokage's.

An empty sake bottle was on Tsunade's desk and scattered papers were messily stacked at the edges. Shizune was petting Tonton. Sakura greeted Tenten and Lee as they walked out. Sakura shut the door behind her and crossed her arms. "Tsunade-shisou, the Akatsuki are advancing to Kohona" Emerald eyes pleaded at Tsunade "they can't get Naruto!" Sakura forced out the tears brimming in her eyes.

Tsunade looked at her pupil. "They will not get Naruto" she repeated. She looked at some papers "but, we need an ANBU to get close to the Akatsuki" "I am not suggesting any regular ANBU Sakura, these people aren't the ones to mess with" Sakura nodded "hai"

The door suddenly burst open "TSUNADE-BAACHAN!" "THE AKATSUKI IS COMING TO GET ME!" "WELL, I AM GONNA KICK THEIR SORRY ASSES AND THEN I'LL BECOME ROKUDAIME HOKAGE!" "OH, HI SAKURA-CHAN!" "DID YOU HEAR?" "THE AKATSUKI IS COMING TO KOHONA!" "WHAT SHOULD WE DO?" Naruto finished yelling only to have Tsunade smack him. "SHUT UP NARUTO!" "I AM NOT AN OLD LADY!" "YES YOU ARE!" Sakura looked annoyed. "Quiet!" she hissed.

Naruto crossed his arms. Over the years, he had become ANBU and was currently dating Hinata. He had matured but was the same goofy shinobi deep down. He and Sakura had become very close. Naruto glanced at Sakura. Her hands were balled up into fists. "Tsunade-shisou, what about me?" "I've had previous encounters by the Akatsuki and have even broke out of Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan" Cerulean blue eyes widened as Naruto opened his mouth to scream but Shizune covered a hand with his mouth.

Tsunade looked at her pupil. She had changed so much. She was like her. They wanted to be like their teammates. To show everyone that they were not weak. But, what if she never came back. "Sakura, we can always have Neji or someone else go" Tsunade didn't dare say something on the lines of a stronger shinobi. Sakura stubbornly shook her head. "No, they need a kunoichi" "Now, tell me shisou, what other kunoichi like me so you want to send?" Tsunade was silent.

Naruto slapped Shizune's hand away. He raced up to Sakura. Jade eyes collided with sky blue. "Sakura-chan…" he said softly, grabbing her hand. Sakura was silent. "No Naruto-kun, I have to do this" She looked at Tsunade. "I'll have Ino dye my hair and I can create a colored lens to go over my eyes" She walked past Shizune and rested a palm on the door.

She looked back at her saddened teammate. A forced smile made its way to her face "Naruto-kun!!" "I'll be fine, when I come back, you can take me out for ramen!" Naruto was silent. She walked out, quietly shutting the door. But in Sakura's stomach, she knew that there was a chance that this was the last time she would ever be in Kohona. Back in Tsunade's room, everyone was silent. Naruto clenched his fists.

'_Look what you've done Sasuke!' _

The rookie eight and Team Gai stared solemnly at Sakura. Tears formed in Ino's eyes "forehead girl!" "You could die!" She sobbed and leaned on Shikamaru's shoulder. Sadly, he looked up "don't be troublesome, don't go" Neji stared into Sakura's eyes. He wouldn't admit it but he liked her. Hinata looked at Sakura, Naruto reappearing behind her. "Come home safely" she said, without stuttering. Fear sparked in everyone's bodies. In the lush green trees, Kurenai, Asuma, Anko, Genma, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Gai watched.

Sakura closed her eyes and shook her head. "We need to find out more on the Akatsuki" "We also cannot let them go near Naruto" "The last thing we need is another fight like the one Deidara and Gaara-kun had on the streets of Kohona" "She does make a good point there" Shino whispered sadly. Akamaru whined as Kiba patted him soothingly. Ino stepped up, hands clasped together. "Demo…f-forehead g-girl" she stammered.

Sakura looked at her best friend and then around to see everyone else's faces. Memories flashed back.

_"Ino-pig! "Forehead girl!" "Ino-pig!" "Forehead-girl!"

* * *

_

_"Sakura-san!" "You're youth blossoms like the rising sun!"

* * *

_

_"Che, women are so troublesome"

* * *

_

_"SAKURA-CHAN!" "WANNA GO FOR RAMEN?!"

* * *

_

_"Hn" "Haruno" _

Everyone had become so strong. Everyone had gained so much potential. She smiled weakly "I'll be fine" "Ino-pig, Hinata-chan, Tenten, come over around seven am tomorrow morning, okay?" she said. Ino nodded, eyes closed. Sakura stuffed her hands into her pockets and then walked along the tree-shaded road, alone and deep in thought. Heads turned to look back at her until long pink locks were no longer in sight.

Neji sighed and rubbed his temples. "She's making a decision for Kohona" he stated. Ino shook her head, opening her teary eyes to stare into milky ones.

"No, she's making this decision for Sasuke"

* * *

Sakura opened up her bag and stuffed some clothes, a fake identity and some more accessories. She looked at her team picture on her dresser. Sakura opened her drawer and took out a camera. Turning around, she snapped a picture. 

Later on, she will have it printed. Then, she'll fold it and put it into a pocket of the bag. Just something to remember her team. The sun was setting as a canvas of reds, oranges and pinks shone. The trees shadowed in the light as people began to walk home. Lights flickered on and off in houses. The clanking of kunai was heard from the training grounds.

Sakura got under her covers and stared up at the ceiling. The scent of vanilla drifted to her nostrils. Emerald orbs began to close at she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Today, she was the legendary Haruno Sakura of Kohona.

Tomorrow, she was Ishida Yume, a kunoichi who was the student of Sakura.

* * *

_-Tsuzuku-_

Did you like? Hate? That was the first chapter! Reviews are always welcomed! I hope you stay tuned for the rest!

Ja ne!

-Shadowsakura321


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much for the reviews! TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!! Please read, review and enjoy! Fanart is welcome as well!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate?

_Anata Wa…?_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321

* * *

_

_When I look at the sky._

_Hey, the stars are still embracing_

_These stars look like a crowd of people_

_Emitting different types of light_

_That's right, that's why…_

_I want to shine for once_

_I close my eyes and swear_

_I entrust my dream to a shooting star_

Sakura turned her radio off. She was like that. Weak, alone. But after Tsunade's training, she showed Kakashi and Naruto how she could shine. Although, now it was going to be a whole different story.

Ino brushed the black hair dye onto Sakura's pink head. Hinata sat on her silky bed and Tenten leaned against a wall, twirling a kunai. "Uchiha Itachi, boy is he hot!!!" Ino said, giggling. Sakura laughed "yeah, but remember, he's an S-criminal" Ino shrugged and dipped the brush into the hair. Hinata sat up from the bed "Naruto-kun is very worried Sakura-chan" she whispered. Sakura smiled. "I'll be fine"

Ino rolled her eyes and tapped Sakura's head. "YOU ARE DEALING WITH S-RANK CRIMINALS HERE FOREHEAD GIRL!" Tenten's eyes shot open as a kunai went flying threw the air. Sakura moved her head to see a kunai whiz past her. Ino caught it between her fingers and stared at the reddening Tenten. "JEEZ!" she yelled.

Sakura winced and could almost imagine the angry villagers hearing Ino's loud booming voice at this hour. It was currently 4:05 am in Konoha. Light shadows were cased on the trees and houses. Sakura pictured Neji and his uncle training right now.

She sniffled softly and wiped her eyes. Ino finished coating the last berry colored strand of hair with pitch black. She stepped back at proudly admired her work. There was no pink to be found as all of Sakura's hair was painted black.

"Hokage-sama infused some of her chakra into it so it will not start to fade" Ino said. Sakura nodded, brushing a black strand out of her face. "Can you show us your lens Sakura?" Tenten asked. Ino nodded, blue eyes gleaming. "Hai, Sakura-chan, show us what you created" Hinata encouraged.

Sakura smiled "alright!" "People said I am always noticeable with my big, green catlike eyes on a mission" "So, I made this lens in the same form as contacts" "They are flexible and plastic" "By infusing some of my chakra, I can make some colored chakra infuse with the lens"

She opened a drawer and put the two in her eyes. Sakura kept her eyes closed but kept on talking. "And that color that I infused is the color my eyes will be" "Now, it activates with a seal" Sakura pressed her hands together. Opening her eyes, she could feel three pairs of eyes on her. She looked in the mirror.

Now, her eyes with a dark purple.

Ino's eyes widened "that is so cool forehead girl!" Sakura giggled "thanks Ino-pig!" Ino glared at her "I am not a pig!"

"Ino-PIG!

"Forehead GIRL!"

"Do I look like a boy?

"Well!" "I had to come back with a comeback!"

"That was a stupid one!"

"You are so troublesome!"

Sakura stared at Ino. Red tinted her cheeks. "You have been hanging around Shikamaru too much Ino!" Tenten said, laughing. Ino put her hands on her hips. "Well?" "Am I supposed to avoid my boyfriend?" Everyone laughed. Hinata twiddled her thumbs. "I am going to miss this" she said quietly. Silence occurred.

Tension rose. Sakura sighed "Relax, I will be fine" Ino shook her head "you don't know that" she protested. Sakura smiled "don't worry"

Over the years, Shikamaru had ended up with Ino and Tenten with Lee. Sakura was currently single but had a huge fanclub that rivaled Sasuke's and Neji's. The four kunoichi's had become closer then ever. Ino and Sakura had also patched up heir broken friendship and now were the best of friends.

Hinata took out some eyeliner and carefully applied it under Sakura's eyes. Sakura spread some chapstick over her lips as Tenten put some purple eye shadow on her. Sakura looked in the mirror. She looked so different. Ino came in, bags hoisted over her shoulders. "Here you go forehead girl" she said, putting the bags on Sakura's pink, satin, silky bed. The three girls exchanged glances. "We also got you something Sakura!" Tenten said. Sakura opened her mouth to protest but Tenten put a finger to her lips.

Ino took out a blue bag. Sakura looked inside of it to find kunai, shuriken, scrolls and medical supplies. Purple eyes gleamed and looked at her friends "thank you!" she said. Hinata shook her head "that's not all" "Temari, Gaara-kun and Kankuro-kun heard that you were leaving and that your mission involved the Akatsuki" She pulled out something "this is from the Sand Siblings" Hinata put a small iron fan in Sakura's arms.

She opened it to see a mountain top and blooming Sakura trees painted onto the sandalwood material. It felt smooth. "With one swing, you can create large air tornados like Temari" "Gaara put some of Shukaku's chakra in it so you and also summon some sand" "Kankuro attached some puppet strings to the ends of the fan so when you open it, the strings will pop out, trapping your opponent like a puppet" Hinata stated.

Sakura stared at the fan and clutched it tightly. "I will personally thank them" she said. In order to get to the Akatsuki, Sakura had to cross Suna. Ino glanced at the clock. "Forehead girl!" "Hurry up, S-rank criminals aren't gonna wait for you!"

Sakura nodded, tears filling her maroon-colored orbs. After hugs and words of encouragement, Sakura lifted her bags and put her ANBU cat mask on, purple eyes shining threw. Tenten, Hinata and Ino followed Sakura to the gates. The sun was slowly coming up to the horizon. A cool breeze whipped the girls' hair.

Sakura made her way to the gates, Izumo and Kotestu waving to her. "MATTE SAKURA-CHAN!" Sakura smiled as Naruto and the rest of her friends, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kurenai, Genma, Shizune, Anko, Asuma and Kakashi joined her.

Tsunade looked at her student. Black hair was tied up neatly in a bun as purple eyes looked at her intently. Mascara was brushed on her lashes and eyeliner was neatly applied under her eyelids. A pink lip gloss was on her lips. Naruto looked at her "bye Sakura-chan be safe" Sakura nodded "I will" Akamaru yapped as Sakura petted him. "Sakura!" Sakura looked up to see Kakashi putting his book away.

"Come back quickly" Sakura nodded and hugged everyone. Neji pecked her on the cheek. Sakura forced the tears out of her eyes. She turned around, waving.

"BYE!" "BYE!" Sakura sighed as she ran a hand threw her black hair. Looking back, she only saw specks of the people she cared about the most.

* * *

'**Sakura!' 'Let's do this thing!' 'CHA!'**

Sakura smiled.

'_Hai!' 'Let's get moving!'

* * *

_

-Tsuzuku-

How'd you like? Hate? Please leave a review! That'll be my birthday gift! Thanks for reading ya'll! Oh, and the song at the top is actually the Naruto Shippuden ending!

-Shadowsakura321


	3. Chapter 3

I am really happy at how this is coming out! Thanks so much for the great reviews and the readers. YOU ROCK! 'Anata Wa' is on a lot of alerts! Now, if only we could turn those into reviews!!! Smiles Anyways I would like to dedicate this chapter to my best friend Marielle Fernandez AKA Ethereal Infernia on She is an amazing writer and is my idol. This one is for u Marielle-chan!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate?

_Anata Wa...?_

_ And You Are...?_

_ By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Sakura sped threw the trees, kunai's jingling in her bag. Purple eyes scanned the area for any traces of other shinobi. There was none. She was heading to the Tikemi Village in the Grass to se if she could get any information on the current movement of the Akatsuki. It was getting late outside. A cool breeze whipped threw the air. Cicadas and crickets chirped. Bushes rustled and owls howled.

'**I can't believe that we are actually going after the Akatsuki!'**

'_Oh jeez, I thought I got rid of you!'_

'**Hmph' 'Never Sakura, never'**

'**So, after we hit the Tikemi Village, what next?'**

'_They know that we know that they are heading for Konoha'_

'_I know that they have a hideout by Suna, we'll go there'_

'**CHA!' 'Let's get these dumb bastards!' **

Sakura immediately stopped. She concentrated for a minute. Four chakras were catching up to her. Powerful. Sakura reached for some kunai's in her pocket. Leaping into the air, she threw them into some nearby trees. Three shinobi jumped out. They were all male in rugged clothes.

One had a huge scroll in his back. Sakura could feel pairs of beady eyes staring at her. Inspecting her. One chucked, taking a step forward "now, now little girl, what are you doing out here all alone?" he asked. He smirked. "You could get hurt" he stated. Sakura's temper flared.

'**WHAT ARE THESE JERKS CALLING ME?' Inner Sakura screamed furiously. **

'**C'mon, let's get these low-life's!' **

Sakura smirked. Running and changing directions quickly to blind the enemy, Sakura grabbed her katana and thrust it forward to the shinobi. He barely dodged it. Sakura jumped back, throwing a kunai. He grabbed it between his fingers and disappeared.

Sakura sped towards the other ninja and punched him. He fell back into the tree, coughing and gasping for breath. The last ninja standing there opened his scroll. Different symbols in black ink were drawn all over the rice paper scroll.

He bit his thumb and smeared some blood onto it. "Activate!" he yelled, throwing the scroll up into the air. Sakura watched in horror as the symbols began to glow an eerie blue. Suddenly everything seemed to fade away into a pale, white background. The ninja, the trees, her weapons pouch. She felt herself being held to the ground by genjutsu bindings.

Sakura gasped. Her mind frantically searched for a way out of this. Suddenly images of Naruto and Neji being stabbed over and over again raced past her. Screams and sobs echoed the air.

_"I love you so much!"_

_"If you go, I'll scream!"_

_"Sakura…thank you"_

Purple eyes snapped open. Her hands covered her ears. "Stop" she whispered. Still, pictures and images flashed threw her mind. Orochimaru, when Sasuke left, when Gaara had nearly killed her and images of her friends being heartlessly killed over and over again. Sakura fell to her knees, gasping. She closed her eyes and thought for a minute, trying to force out the terrified shouts and screams.

_"Weak"_

_"Pathetic!" _

She felt for a kunai but had none. Her weapons pocket was gone. Sakura quickly took off her mask and felt for something tied up in her hair. She pulled out a chopstick that Hinata had given to her. It was sharp as a kunai and was poisonous. Nothing from the Hyuga Clan was just plain. Sakura smirked.

_'I'm so terrified that I can't even move'_

'_But, just like Sasuke-kun in the Chuunin exams, if I clash my pain with me being scared, I can undo the jutsu!'_

Sakura dug the kunai into her left arm. Crimson blood trickled down. Sakura winced but stayed calm. She felt for her kunai pouch. It still wasn't there. She tried to move her feet but they were still tied together.

_Still tied together._

She was still trapped. Angry tears filled in her eyes. Chakra pumped up into her clenched fists. Furious purple eyes hardened.

_'Well, if pain didn't work…'_

Sakura raised her hand up.

_'Then maybe anger will!'_

Sakura crashed her hand into the white titled floor. It split in half, small cracks soon appearing almost instantly. A loud rumbling noise was heard. Sakura gasped for breath as the walls began to cave in. She screamed.

* * *

Sakura clenched her fists, feeling grass crunch up in them too. Sakura's eyes opened slowly, blinking. Pain shot threw her left arm. It was starting to numb from the poison. Sakura looked around and sighed in relief. It had worked. She was lying in the middle of the forest, the peeking sun from behind the treetops meeting with her eyes. Sakura's hand trailed down to meet something soft.

Her weapons pouch.

Sakura felt as if she wanted to cry again. She made it out! Sakura groaned as she felt an enormous pain in her head. Sakura slowly brought up her working hand to heal her other one. She breathed heavily as she felt her chakra sooth the pain but not completely heal it.

_'Healing techniques waste too much chakra'_

_'I'll have to fight in this condition'_

_'But I have to finish them off quickly because I am low on chakra'_

Sakura pinpointed the four shinobis' chakra and punched the earth in front of her. It crumbled, revealing three ninja. Sakura narrowed her eyes.

_'The fourth one has been hiding for quite some time now and the second one who I hit with my punch surprisingly is still alive' _

Sakura ran towards the one who had the scroll and threw a punch at him, a ton of chakra channeled into her hand. She watched as the ninja's eyes widened. Everyone knew about the Godaime's apprentice's punch. He tried to jump up but his feet were held down by genjutsu bindings.

**'Payback!'**

Sakura whammed her fist into his chest. His teammates watched in horror as the genjutsu bindings ripped out of the ground and the ninja went flying into a tree. His head snapped back as his body slid down, dead. Enraged, another ninja sped towards her. Panting, Sakura pressed her fingers together.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

About two dozen clones appeared. The ninja and his partner battled them while the real Sakura disappeared into the tree tops. Her breath hitched as she felt the smooth blade of a knife at her throat.

_'Kuso!' 'I completely forgot about the fourth!' _

"Don't move" a voice whispered. Sakura elbowed him hard in the abdomen. The ninja moved back, throwing the kunai. Sakura dodged it and threw another one. Metal clashed as Sakura's kunai rammed into a tree. Trees exploded and grass went flying everywhere. Sakura dug a kunai to the ground, sliding back. Yanking the kunai out, she threw it into the smoke.

_'Two down, two to go'_

A ninja appeared from the smoke and then reappeared behind Sakura. She turned into a log. The shinobi saw a kick aiming for his face. He ducked as Sakura's foot crashed onto the tree, splitting it in half. The two exchanged punches and kicks for about ten good minutes. Sakura panted heavily and wiped the trail of red blood that trickled down her lip. She gasped. Her left arm was starting to kill. Sakura used all of her chakra up by healing her arm.

She fell to her knees and leaned against a tree. Sweat rolled down her cheeks. She was very wobbly.

_'I guess I have to use taijutsu!'_

Sakura sped towards a ninja and attacked his pressure point by his neck. He fell to the ground. Even though he wasn't dead, he was out of the fight and his major injuries would most likely kill him anyways.

Sakura ran towards the last ninja and used some techniques that Neji taught her. She then twisted the ninja's arm back. She heard a sickening snap and threw him back into a tree. She coughed and rubbed her eyes. Sakura looked at the fight ground. Large craters were everywhere. Dark, gray smoke was rising. Blood smears were on the ground. Trees lay on their sides.

All four ninjas were dead.

Sakura needed rest. She teleported back into the treetops. Sakura put a hand on her thigh and leaned against a tree for support. She was too tired to set up camp and wasn't hungry. Tikemi Village was so close but Sakura didn't have the strength to move any more.

She lay on the grass and threw blanket over herself. Sakura rested her bags against a tree and opened a bottle of water. She savored the taste as it trailed down her mouth. She took off her mask and pulled out her ponytail. Black hair cascaded down her back. Sakura wiped the last of her smudged eyeliner off from under her eyelids.

The sky was a dark velvet blanket with shimmering stars. Purple eyes closed as she drifted up into a deep sleep.

* * *

**-Tsuzuku-**

**WOW! This has got to be my favorite chapter so far! And it's so long! Well, I really hoped you liked and will stay tuned for the next chap. Please leave a review!**

**Until next time,**

**-Shadowsakura321**


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks so much for the amazing reviews! My jaw dropped after seeing all the hits! WOW! Anyways, here's chapter four! Here's the Akatsuki! FINALLY!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Deidara looked up from the kitchen table to see Itachi leaning against a wall, eyes closed, thinking intently. Kisame was gulping down sake while Sasori was fumbling with his new puppet. Zestu, Hidan and Kakuzu were all outside, training. They were currently stationed at their little fort at the border of Suna. Deidara smacked his lips together.

"Do you think that the Hokage sent someone after us, yeah?"

Itachi ignored him. Deidara sighed "so quiet, yeah" he whispered. Kisame laughed as he wobbled off his chair, drinking more sake. Deidara rolled his eyes. What a drunken freak. Itachi's eyes shot open, red staring at his partner, commas still. "Someone is approaching" "One, great chakra level" Kisame smirked and swung his Sameheda "Well, what are we waiting for?"

Itachi looked at Sasori. "Inform the Leader that someone is coming" "It's very possible that he or she might be associated with the Kyuubi" Sasori nodded. Itachi and Kisame disappeared into a puff of smoke.

* * *

Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead as she landed on a treetop. She saw a small fort, covered by vines and trees. It was dark gray with blue shutters. She leaned closer and could make out about three members of the Akatsuki fighting in the field behind the fort. Black cloaks with red clouds on them. Sakura smirked and gathered weapons in her hands. She sped threw the trees. Suddenly, she stopped. Bushes rustled and a snap of a twig was heard. Purple eyes widened. The place was silent.

Sakura turned around to see Kisame and Itachi. She was frozen in place. They were everything that they were heard or seen to be. Kisame was blue-skinned and reminded her of a man-eating shark. His large, bandaged Sameheda was behind him. Sakura shivered as she looked at the man next to him. The murderer of the Uchiha clan, the person who man Sasuke's life a living hell, the man who even Orochimaru is afraid of.

Uchiha Itachi.

Sakura breathed heavily as she faced the two Akatsuki members. Kisame grinned "what's one little ninja doing out here all alone?" he asked. Sakura clenched her fists "I am one of Konoha's best ANBU" she stated coolly. Kisame looked at her up to down. "You?" he asked disbelievingly.

She nodded and smirked. "My sensei is the legendary Haruno Sakura" "Surely, you must have heard of her" "She beat the Hyuga prodigy for the ANBU title, she is the head of the hospital and she has surpassed the Godaime herself" Itachi stood there, listening. The wind blew his ebony hair and Sakura could a pair of red eyes staring at her. Goosebumps trickled her skin.

Kisame smirked and took out his Sameheda "well, enough talk kunoichi, you shouldn't have come here" Sakura smirked and shook her head "no, you're the reason I came" Sakura punched the ground beneath her. Rocks flew up and sand splashed everywhere. Kisame and Itachi jumped up. Sakura threw some kunai which they easily dodged. She leaped down from the tree.

'_I'll go after Kisame and then Itachi!' _

She reappeared in front of Kisame. He swung his sword as Sakura ducked. A strand of black hair fell to the ground. Blue chakra formed in Sakura's hands. She reached out and tried to grab him. He dodged it and swung his Sameheda again. It hit Sakura, sending her flying back. Itachi smirked and watched as Sakura turned into a log.

Sakura opened the fan that Temari had given her. The trees began to glow a bright pink as Sakura raised the fan and brought it back. Swinging it forward, Kisame and Itachi were both thrown back, trying to catch on to a tree. Leaves and branches broke off. Rocks were scattered as grass was lifted from the earth. Freezing winds zipped threw the air.

Sakura took this as her chance. She summoned about three dozen clones and about a dozen water clones. They all charged at Kisame, kunai in hand. Sakura spun around and ran to the Uchiha prodigy. He disappeared as Sakura jumped over the traps he had laid. She threw a punch as him which he easily caught. Heat radiated threw her body as she felt him touch her skin.

'**SAKURA!' 'FOCUS!'**

Sakura flipped over, throwing some shuriken.

She ran to him. Quicker then Gai and Lee, the two exchanged punches and kicks. Itachi pinned Sakura to a tree. She looked at him. Sasuke flashed threw her mind. She kneed him and spit out blood. Itachi looked at her.

'_Something is different about this kunoichi'_

Sakura ran towards him, katana in hand. Itachi did some hand seals. Sakura stepped back and gasped.

"Katon: gokakyu no jutsu!"

A fire great, heated fireball was heading Sakura's way. She jumped onto a treetop and rapidly made some hand seals.

"Suiton: mizu ryuu no justu!"

Blue, clear water sprayed from Sakura's mouth, creating a large dragon. It extinguished the fire ball as steam rose. Sakura coughed and covered her mouth. She knew that Itachi was already planning another attack. Sakura saw Kisame staggering back to her. She ran to him, fan in hand. Another large gust of wind attacked him. She punched the tree in front of him. It came crashing down. Sakura threw a kunai attached with a explosive tag. Trees blew up. Bushes broke out from under the earth.

Sakura scanned the area. Kisame was picking himself up again but there was no sign of Itachi. She turned around just in time to block a kunai. He looked at her. "You are strong" he said. Sakura nodded "after spending so much time with Sasu…Sakura-sama, I know that shinobi always have to be on the alert and identify the opponent's weakness" Sakura stuttered.

Itachi raised an eyebrow and pushed Sakura up against a tree. "Do you know the Kyuubi?" he asked. Sakura's cheeks reddened. She squirmed to get out of his grasp but he was too powerful. Sakura gulped "g-get off of me!" she said angrily. Sakura began to feel Inner Sakura begin to take over her. She forced the thought out of her mind as she raised her foot slightly and tapped the tree. It came crashing down with a large thump.

Sakura threw shuriken's from all directions at Kisame and Itachi. Itachi blocked them all with his kunai. "You'll never get Naruto-kun!" she screamed. Sakura ran towards the Uchiha prodigy and kicked him hard. He turned into smoke. Sakura frantically searched for him. A pain seethed through her head.

Her eyes widened.

_'This is…_

Itachi appeared in front of her. He looked down at the kunoichi on her knees. Sweat rolled down her cheeks. A large gash was across her arm. Purple eyes met blood-red ones. Sakura saw the commas spin. Her mind began to get dizzy. Sakura felt pain shoot threw her body.

"Tsukuyomi!"

_'Sasuke-kun, don't leave, I beg of you!'_

_'Weak'_

_'You nearly died all because of a burden'_

Sakura stood in the middle of a dark room. Red painted the walls. Green eyes searched for any sign of light. Then, suddenly a scream echoed threw out the air. Shakily, Sakura pressed herself against the wall as she saw something fall to the ground. Ino fell to the ground, blood caked her arms. She coughed and reached her hand out. "Forehead g-girl…" she moaned.

Sakura gasped and ran to her best friend. She reached her hand out to grab Ino. Ino groaned. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw her hand slip threw Ino's as if she were invisible. "Ino!" she yelled, tears rolling down her cheeks. She tried again and again but still, Sakura couldn't grab her hand.

Ino stopped. Her eyelids slowly closed. Sakura was silent. She could literally hear her heart beating. This was about ten times scarier then the ninja's scroll attack yesterday.

She was completely terrified.

Images flashed threw her mind. All she saw was red. Red. The color of blood.

Sakura backed herself up again into the wall. She was shaking all over. Pain shot threw her body and her jaws. It was so quiet. Ino lay on the ground, lifeless. Sakura heard screaming and metal clashing. Horrible pictures flashed threw her mind. A sickening smell made its way to her nostrils. Quivering, Sakura brought her hands up to her face.

They were covered in blood.

Ino's blood.

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream echoed threw out the forest.

* * *

-Tsuzuku-

How was that??! We saw Itachi!!!!!! Anyways, a little hint of some ItaSaku. It's coming along people! Well, thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter. Oh, I know that Hidan can't fight anymore and Sasori, Asuma and Kakuzu are dead. But, I like the original and I always read stories with them in so I am still gonna have them in 'Anata Wa'.

Leave a review!!!!

-Shadowsakura321


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey you guys, sorry for the wait. Just with testing and all that dumb stuff. Thanks for the reviews! For my first story, I am really happy! Here's some more of the Akatsuki with maybe hints of ItaSaku. For real, I don't write lemons. Gomen. But, there will be romance and a ton of drama, fighting and all that good stuff!! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Sakura shivered. Purple eyes slowly fluttered open. Her cell was cold and dark. So gray and bland. Chains hooked her feet and hands to the cold ground. Kisame must have drained all of her chakra with his stupid, huge Sameheda. Sakura groaned as she felt the throbbing pain in her head.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, shining a blinding streak of light right into Sakura's face. She squinted her maroon-colored eyes. Kisame walked in and smirked. Sakura tried to look cold, glaring at him. Kisame knelt down by her and pushed a bowl of some bread, orange and water up to her. "You shouldn't have come here kunoichi" "What's your name?" he inquired.

Sakura straightened up, black locks flowing down her face. "Ishida Yume" she stated. Kisame cocked an eyebrow. "Yume?" "Dream" He grinned at her. "I'll call you Dreamy from now on" Sakura coughed and spit on him. Kisame looked at her in disgust. He was pissed. "And I'll call you Sharky, you dumb, horrible fish-bastard!" she growled. Kisame took a threatening step towards Sakura. "Why you…" he said dangerously.

"Kisame" Kisame looked back to see Itachi, arms crossed. Sakura looked at him. Itachi looked at Sakura. "Watch your mouth kunoichi" he said. Sakura's eyes turned into slits but didn't reply. It was silent for a minute. Sakura sighed "can you please untie me so I can at least have a bite of food?" she asked. Kisame nodded and reached over to unlock the chains. Sakura wrenched her hands free and rubbed her sore wrists.

She could feel a little chakra inside of her. She pressed her palms together and put it over the food. Kisame chuckled darkly "why would we want to poison your food when we need you Dreamy??" Sakura looked at him "because I do not trust bloodthirsty killers and ruthless criminals like you Sharky" she shot back. Kisame licked his lips "you don't know anything about me" Sakura's eyes narrowed "neither do you"

"But, I do know that you're a freak!" Sakura shouted. Kisame wanted to slap her but if laid a hand on her, Itachi would kill him. Itachi appeared in front of her "shut up" he said monotonously. Sakura glared at him "make me" she said sternly. A little part of her thrived to see what would happen next. But, another part of her was completely scared, petrified. Itachi straightened up and grabbed her bowl. Chaining her up, he left along with Kisame. Sakura could feel a pair of onyx eyes looking back at her.

Sakura sighed and leaned against the wall. A tiny smirk made its way to her pale face.

'_The plan is all going smoothly'_

Naruto looked at Tsunade. "Tsunade-baachan, how come Sakura-chan hasn't contacted us as yet?" he whined. Tsunade sighed and massaged her temples. "Naruto, this mission isn't exactly the easiest, I'm sure Sakura will write or call whenever she has time" Naruto huffed and pointed a finger at the Godaime. "This is all your fault!" "You made Sakura-chan accept this mission!" he said accusingly.

Tsunade stood up and glowered at the ANBU. "Brat!" "I didn't do anything!" "Of course I miss my student, but she accepted this to help _you!" _Shizune sweat dropped at the two. She looked at Naruto. "Naruto, Hokage-sama is correct" "We all miss Sakura"

"But, she does have a point; Sakura is doing this for _you"_

Naruto was quiet and stuffed his hands into his pockets. His shoulders slumped. Jiraiya walked into the room and noticed the tense atmosphere. He looked at his pupil. How Naruto had grown as well. Naruto bit his lip and slumped down on a stool, quiet. Jiraiya immediately felt sorry for him.

'_I need you' _

'_And you need me'_

'_This is so plain to see'_

'_And I will never let you go'_

Naruto looked up and smiled sadly.

"She already proved to me that she is strong" Tears filled in his eyes as he looked at the Sannin.

"But, she didn't have to do this" "I wanna see her again"

"Alive…"

* * *

Later on, Kisame had let her out. Sakura wandered threw out the halls. She gulped. This place was scarier then she thought. Everywhere she turned, she saw a missing-nin with a line through their forehead protector.

That band.

It symbolized the vow they took to protect their home.

And they broke it.

Sakura was wondering now if she should have accepted the mission now.

Little did she know that it was going to get more interesting by the second.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Clay birds flew from the door. Chairs flew up and a small explosion sent some cups flying and some plates breaking. Sakura ducked from a flying, sharp-edged fork. Wide-eyed, she looked up to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Akatsuki running from about twenty kunai.

'**WOW!' 'Training is intense here!'**

'_Ya think?!' _

Sakura felt a hand grasp hers and pull her up from the debris and broken glass. Sakura looked up to stare into azure eyes.

'**Deidara!' 'The one with the clay…' 'The one with the mouth on his hand!' 'The one who looks like a he/she!' **

Sakura was speechless. Deidara grinned "so, you must be the ninja Kisame and Itachi took hostage, yeah" "Name's Deidara by the way, yeah" Sakura brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Ishida Yume" "Pleased to meet you" she said politely. He reminded her of Naruto. The boyish, determined, friendly but powerful ninja.

Sakura looked at him "where's Itachi's room?" she asked. Deidara frowned "Itachi's room is down in that long corridor, yeah" he said, pointing to the left. "Third one down from the end, yeah" Sakura nodded and smiled "thanks" Deidara nodded "anytime, yeah" Sakura wet her lips and walked away from Deidara. She wrung her hands together.

Sakura wasn't some big macho chick who could kick everybody's butts. She had weaknesses like everybody else. Itachi right now was on that list. Sakura knocked on the door. There was no answer. She rapped again. "Hn" Sakura took this as a yes and slowly opened the door.

She found Itachi in his robe sitting up on his bed. His Sharingan was turned off and his eyes looked like endless pools of obsidian glass. He reminded her so much of Sasuke. The way he would look at people. He would acknowledge them as if they were a bug and then be silent.

Emotionless.

Cautiously, Sakura made her way to him. "I know you want me for Naruto-kun, but there also another reason, am I correct?" she asked. Itachi looked up "yes" "You are to heal my eyes" he ordered. Sakura nodded "you use your Sharingan to much, if you just had been more careful, you wouldn't have been in this position" she scolded. Itachi looked impassive.

"Do not tell me how to live my life kunoichi" he said. Sakura huffed and rolled her eyes "I wasn't, I simply was just telling-" she was cut off by Itachi walking up to her. He leant down and looked at her purple irises. She could feel his breath on her. She gulped quietly. Excitement bubbled inside of her.

A faint tint of red stained her cheeks. "I said, do not tell me how to live my life" he whispered. Sakura turned beet red. Itachi smirked. The sun was setting. "It's time for dinner, come" he ordered. Sakura rolled her eyes. He talked to her as if she was some sort of little, trained puppy dog. "Yes master" she said teasingly. Itachi ignored her. He led her down a torch-lit corridor. It was like one of them in a castle. He opened a door to see Kisame drinking sake, Deidara complaining and four other members. One of them was trying to attach a string to his new doll.

'_Sasori…' 'Akasuna no Sasori'_

The other two were arguing nonstop. One had a white cap on and a piece of black cloth slightly covering up the corners of his mouth.

'_Kakuzu'_

The other one had light maroon colored eyes like herself. Pale white hair was tied up into a half-ponytail.

'_Hidan'_

Zestu was currently not here.

'**The dude who looks like a plant?'**

'_Yeah'_

'**Whoa, what is with these people?'**

'**We have a shark, a plant, a killer, and two other freaks'**

Sakura stifled a laugh. Itachi looked sharply at her. She shut up.

Itachi made his presence known. All the members looked up. Kisame grinned, drinking some more sake. "Dreamy!" he said. Itachi's eyes narrowed. Sakura smirked "Sharky" Kisame looked at his teammates "this is the one I was talking about" Deidara cheekily grinned "we've already met, yeah!" "Hi Yume-chan, yeah!" Surprised, Sakura smiled. Hidan looked bored and Kakuzu was staring at her as if she was a piece of meat.

Sakura gulped. She turned to the Uchiha prodigy "so, you said that it was dinner time, what's for dinner?" she asked. From the corner of her eye, she saw Deidara get up and get something from a cabinet.

"Ramen!" Deidara cried.

Sakura's smile faded, not going unnoticed by Itachi or Sasori. "Something wrong Ishida-san?" Sasori asked.

'_Oh kami-sama, how did he know my name?_'

Sakura faked a smile as she was seated and Deidara passed her a pair of wooden chopsticks. She stared at the steaming ramen. She shook her head and looked at Sasori.

"Oh nothing, just…remembering someone"

* * *

_-Tsuzuku-_

_How's that? I thought it was pretty good, my favorite part was with Deidara! Now, I have to make Sakura and Sasori talk. Also, stay tuned because next chapter we get to see a dark Itachi!! Also, maybe some Sasuke! Oh and, that little piece with some lyrics from Diddy featuring Keyshia Cole "Last Night"_

_Please leave a review! _

_-Shadowsakura321_


	6. Chapter 6

Hey peoples! Here's chapter six, thanks for the reviews! As I promised, here's some dark Itachi! Also, some Sasuke-kun!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Sasuke walked down the road of Otogakure. A bored expression was on his face. Sound-nins immediately bowed as Sasuke briskly walked past him.

'_The three years is almost up, I have to hurry'_

Kabuto appeared in front of him and bowed. "Sasuke-sama, Orochimaru-sama wishes to speak to you" Sasuke nodded as they both disappeared into a flurry of smoke. Sasuke opened the wooden door to Orochimaru's chambers. He sat in a chair, a sinister look in his slanted yellow eyes. "Sasuke-kun" he rasped. Sasuke looked at him. "Hn"

Orochimaru chuckled "am I truly wasting your time?" "Well, I have gotten news about the Akatsuki" Sasuke perked up. He clenched his hands. "You didn't tell me?" he asked angrily threw gritted teeth. Orochimaru smirked "calm your temper boy" He looked at the Uchiha. "Your brother is on the hunt for the Kyuubi as you probably already know, actually, they are on the border of Suna and plan to attack Konoha sooner or later" Sasuke looked at Kabuto "leave" he ordered.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses and smirked. "Yes, Sasuke-sama" he said, obeying. Sasuke looked at Orochimaru. "My brother doesn't like to wait, he likes to get the job done quickly" "It's a test to see his power" Sasuke's face coated with anger and fury. Rage swelled in his red eyes. "Why hasn't he gotten Naruto?" he asked. Orochimaru glanced at his hands and smirked. "They have a hostage" Sasuke raised an eyebrow "someone close to Naruto?" he asked quietly.

Orochimaru could sense the tiny sliver of dread in Sasuke's voice. "What's the matter, nervous about whom your brother has?" he asked, chuckling softly. Sasuke glared. His face suddenly became emotionless.

"Hn, emotions make you weak" "Frankly, I do not care" Orochimaru smirked, his long tongue coming out, licking his lips.

"Even when it is your pink-haired teammate?"

Sasuke looked up, concealing all his emotions.

"_Sasuke-kun!"_

Sasuke glared at the smirking Sannin. "Where are they?" he asked darkly.

* * *

'_I have to find out where they are hiding their documents'_

'_I also have to get in contact with Konoha soon'_

'_Ino and Naruto are probably worried sick'_

"Dreamy!" Kisame slurred, drunk. Sakura rolled her eyes and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"When your liver rots, I ain't helping you Sharky"

Kisame glared at her. Sasori walked into the room. "Hey Sasori-san!" Sakura greeted. Sasori nodded and looked at Kisame. He resisted the nerve to roll his eyes. Sasori sat next to her. He looked at her as if examining her. Sakura shivered.

'**Jeez, what is with these people?!' **

Sakura looked at him. "Is there anything you need?" she asked. Sasori shook his head and changed the subject. "Haruno Sakura" "That is amazing, being her student must be astonishing" Sakura nodded, blushing of embarrassment. "Well, it is an honor" she admitted, stammering quietly. Sasori propped his elbows on the table. The look in his eyes made her think of Gaara or a hungry sand ANBU. Plus, he is a missing-nin from Suna. "But, I never knew that Haruno-sama had a student" Sasori said deeply.

Sakura mentally swore. "Well, it was kind of last minute, I really wanted to train with someone as legendary as herself" she finished lamely. Sasori nodded, not believing but being quiet. Sakura thought that he could actually here her heart beating or her breathing. "So, may I ask you a question?" she asked, changing the subject. Sasori nodded.

Sakura looked at him and tilted her head.

"Why go after Naruto first?" "I mean, the Shukaku inside of Gaara is powerful as well"

"If you get him, you'll destroy the Kazekage and practically end Suna" "But, yet you want Naruto" She looked at him "why?" she questioned.

Sasori looked at her and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I cannot discuss that kind of information with you" Sakura nodded and held her hands up in defense "oh no!" "That's fine" Sasori was quiet until Kisame starting babbling nonstop to him. From the corner of her eye, she watched. She bit her lip.

'_They want Naruto so bad…' _

* * *

Itachi crumbled the piece of paper in his hand. Something was wrong. He could feel it. That kunoichi. There was something about her. Pictures of the fight echoed threw his mind.

_Itachi appeared in front of her. He looked down at the kunoichi on her knees. Sweat rolled down her cheeks. A large gash was across her arm. Purple eyes met blood-red ones. Sakura saw the commas spin. Her mind began to get dizzy. Sakura felt pain shoot threw her body._

_"Tsukuyomi!"_

He didn't wonder about it first but now it was all coming back to him. He had felt the great surge of chakra she had. Her medical skills were amazing and she had strength like Sakura herself. He knew it. He had felt, almost another inner self inside of her, waiting to explode and fight him. Itachi's eyes widened but then as usual were replaced with a mask of stone.

'_She was holding back…' _

'_She could have broken out of the Tsukuyomi…'_

Itachi's eye narrowed. Commas angrily began to spin.

'_Who is this kunoichi?' _

* * *

Sakura felt massive chakra coming away. It was abnormal. It was Itachi's. Sakura's fingers dug into the chair.

'_Oh my god, he feels so angry!'_

Sasori looked at the kunoichi. Her face was a mask of fear. Small hands clutched the fabric of the chair bottom. Itachi walked into the room. Sasori could hear the young kunoichi's breath hitch. She was so scared that she couldn't even smile weakly.

* * *

Ino sat on the stool of the 'Yamanaka Flower Shop'. She fingered a pink flower petal. Ino sighed and ran a hand threw her hair. It was so different without her here. Naruto was quieter, Hinata stammered once again and even Neji was a little colder. Lee trained more viciously and Akamaru whined more often. She herself hadn't even gone shopping in a week. That was a new record for her.

A smile made its way to face as she looked at the petal. A bunch of assorted pink flowers including roses were next to her. She heard the small clink of the silver bells as the door opened. Shikamaru walked in to see his girlfriend's eyeliner smudged with tears. She was fingering the petal so hard that he thought she was going to tear it in half. Then, she would burst out crying. How he hated to see her like that.

It was so troublesome.

Shikamaru rubbed her back and brushed a strand of platinum blonde hair out of her face. "She'll come back" he whispered. Ino was quiet. Shikamaru watched her hands. They were shaking.

She was shaking.

Suddenly, the petal tore in half.

* * *

Sakura gasped. Itachi looked pissed. Kisame was too drunk to notice it but Sasori looked at him, questioningly. Goosebumps appeared on her arm. She rubbed them to get warmth. Itachi leaned against the door, Sharingan activated. Sakura knew it wasn't possible, but his eyes looked even redder.

Red like the blood she saw.

"_Ino-pig!"_

Sakura wanted to scream. "I need to speak to Yume" Itachi said rudely. Sasori glanced between the two. Silence occurred. Tension rose. Sakura's palms were sweating as she clutched the fabric even harder.

Any minute now, she thought the chair was going to collapse. Sasori opened his mouth to speak but Sakura talked first. "Alright, let's go" she said, faking a smile. Even Kisame stopped drinking to see the kunoichi leave. He opened his mouth to make some remark but Sasori shot him a death glare. He closed his mouth and reached for some for some more sake.

* * *

Itachi gripped Sakura's arm so tightly. "Can you ease up a little bit?" she asked quietly. He ignored her as he pulled her into her holding cell. Turning on the light, he flung her into the nearest wall. Sakura gasped in pain as blood trickled down her mouth. Cement blocks crashed down to the floor. Sakura shut her eyes and coughed. She dared not to heal herself. Pain seared threw her body. Sakura tiredly looked up. Itachi appeared before her and forced her up. He pinned her against the wall. She forced herself not to look up into his eyes.

"Who…are…you?" he asked dangerously.

Sakura spit out blood and wiped her lip. She hastily looked up at him. His Sharingan was on but he wasn't activating anything. Sakura tried to get out from under him "I am Ishida Yume…" she screamed. Itachi glared at her and pushed her more against the cement. Sakura could feel cuts on her back and the rough rock dig into her. "I will ask you again kunoichi, who are you really?" Itachi growled, his anger growing.

Sakura tried to reach for a kunai but with no avail. She looked at him, purple eyes meeting red.

"I am…

"Ishida Yume of Konoha"

SMACK! Sakura gasped and fell to the ground as Itachi slapped her. It stung. Tears rolled down her cheeks and mixed with blood. Itachi left her in the room alone, shutting the door.

Sakura weakly got up and leaned against the cold wall. Blood was all over the ground. Her face was bruised and her back killed. Sakura shut her eyes.

'_Naruto, anyone, please come and save me…'_

* * *

Sasuke slammed his door shut, nearly breaking it off its hinges. Sound ninjas fearfully moved away from his room. They didn't want to die as yet. Sasuke lay on his black bed. He clenched his fists.

Itachi had Sakura.

Naruto was in Konoha, getting stronger.

Gaara was protecting his people in Suna.

And he was here with the stupid snake Sannin.

Sasuke imagined the new Sakura. He shut his eyes. He would go look for them tomorrow.

* * *

Sakura coughed out more blood and healed a cut on her right arm. She rubbed her sore cheek. How that had hurt.

'_Right now, I wanna be Sakura again'_

'_Right now, I wanna stop by disguise' _

'_Right now, I wanna go home'_

'_Right now, I wanna kill Itachi…' _

_-Tsuzuku-_

_-HITS ITACHI- HORRIBLE, MEAN ITACHI!!! Well, you guys please review. My goal is to get ten reviews for any chapter. Stay tuned for the next update. :) _

_Ja ne!_

_-Shadowsakura321_


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Whatz up ya'll? Thanks for the reviews!!Nineteen for one chapter! Thanks so much! I'll like to dedicate this chapter to all the amazing Naruto authors who are reading my story like 'Lady Hanaka', 'Asian Chick 77', 'Flynnfriend' and so much more! This is for ya! The long awaited chapter!! I think this turns everything around ya'll!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Her schedule was hectic. It had been a week since Sakura was taken hostage. She was bonding with everyone except Itachi. She hated him even more. Well, what could a girl feel for a ruthless killer who slapped her and ruined her crush's life and is after her brother-like best friend? Fall in love?

Sakura walked briskly threw out the halls. She could imagine Ino's crying face. Sakura winced.

_'I'm sorry Ino-pig, I will get in touch' 'Sooner or later'_

Thankfully, Itachi had gone on a mission to the Cloud with Sasori. Hidan and Kakuzu were currently also in the Cloud in the main headquarters with the Leader. Sakura brushed past a mist nin and walked into Itachi's room. Purple eyes scanned the room for any trace of special documents, folders, papers or scrolls. There was nothing.

**'Are you sure you want to do this?'**

_'What?' 'Yes!' 'I hate every one of these people!'_

**'You don't show it, you're bonding with them'**

_'…It's for the mission'_

**'And Itachi…?'**

_'Shut up' _

Inner Sakura shut up. Sakura was silent for a minute. She scolded at herself and shook her head. Sakura sat down and examined the wooden floor. Itachi was a skilled shinobi. He was also like the boss of this place so he would have all the confidential things. Sakura stepped carefully on the wooden blocks, looking for any squeaky ones. She checked under the bed, in the desk, drawers, and in the closet.

Sakura huffed. Then, something caught her eye. A small, triangular shaped box was on Itachi's desk. Curiously, she picked it up. It was made from polished mahogany wood and felt smooth and slick. Weird, dark blue kanji names decorated the cover of the box. Dark, pencil marks was scratched over them, making them almost impossible to see. Still, Sakura's eyes widened as she recognized one of the names imprinted on the box.

Tsunade.

Sakura's brow burrowed. Tsunade-shisou? What the hell is her name doing on a box in Uchiha Itachi's room of the Akatsuki? Three other unidentified names were next to Tsunade's. Sakura sat down on Itachi's bed. Carefully, she opened the box to see a necklace. Strung to it was a tiny vial pendant with something in it. Red liquid.

Blood.

A tiny gasp made its way out of Sakura's mouth. The vial had a cork plugged into it. It hung from a black cord. Delicately, she picked it up, one hand on the cord and the other on the vial. She twirled it around to find a white label stuck too it, with another name, this name written in letters. Sakura nearly fainted when she saw the name. Chills were sent down her spine.

Sasuke.

Sakura gulped. Sasuke??! What was going on here? What is the Akatsuki planning?

_'Calm down, calm down….'_

Sakura's eyes widened as her hands shook. She shut the box and put the necklace in her weapons pouch. Thinking of her carrying Sasuke's blood in her pocket sent shivers down her spine.

_'There has got to be something to go with this'_

_'Directions, instructions…'_

Suddenly, it felt as if the world had just closed in. Sakura jumped off the bed and yanked the door open, slamming it shut. She sprinted down the hall.

* * *

Sasuke packed up his clothes and disappeared to Orochimaru.

"So, they are in a little hide-out in Suna?" he asked.

Orochimaru nodded "yes, Sasuke-kun" he said, chuckling. Commas spun wildly. "Sakura" "Is she undercover or something?" he asked again. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow "why do you care so much?"

"Would you be panicking so much if this were the Hyuga heiress or a jounin like Yuuhi Kurenai or a sand ninja like Sabaku no Kankuro?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Che" "I only care about killing my brother"

Sasuke glared at Kabuto who smirked. "I didn't say anything Sasuke-sama" Kabuto said innocently.

Sasuke hoisted his knapsack over his shoulder and walked out of Orochimaru's office. He stopped at the door "Orochimaru" The snake Sannin looked up. "Yes Sasuke-kun?" he asked curiously. Sasuke smirked.

"Remember, the only reason I'm here is because of Itachi"

Kabuto opened his mouth to defend him but Sasuke was already gone, on the hunt for Itachi and Sakura.

* * *

Sakura whizzed past shinobi. Rounding the corner, she nearly crashed into Kisame who was busy chugging down a bottle of sake. Sakura ran past him. Kisame looked back and wiped the alcohol away from his blue, fish-like lips. "Dreamy!" he said. Sakura ignored him and rounded another corner, running down the long hallway. Kisame shrugged and went back to drinking.

Sakura swung open a large, oak door. The smell of paper drifted into her nostrils. It was completely silent. Shelves of books and scrolls were in four large bookcases. Tables and chairs were to the left and in the middle of the room. A blue carpet swept under her feet. The vial jingled in her pouch as she ran threw the aisles. She looked for files on Tsunade. There was nothing. She looked for Sasuke. Nothing either.

Sakura plopped down and tried to think about the other three names. Words popped into her head.

Tsunade. Sasuke. Three names. Vial. Blood.

Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples. She leaned back. She got up again and searched the bookcases. Nada. Sakura groaned in frustration. She picked up a book that marked 'Konoha'.

It was a bingo book on all the current ANBU in Konoha. She flipped to the 'H' pages. Looking up her name, Sakura tilted her head. She was circled in red pen. She looked up 'U' and saw that Naruto's name was also circled as well. She looked up and found a book that had Konoha genin in it from past years. She found the one that had them inside when they were genin. Sure enough, Sasuke's name was circled bit he also had a line going threw him too.

That meant that they already had Sasuke's blood. They were done with him. Did they need Naruto's and her blood as well?? That would explain when Itachi and Kisame had come for Naruto and when Sasuke and showed up, Itachi had stated that "he was not interested in him". They needed to get Naruto's blood. Then they would have came after her. Maybe ambush her at the hospital or something.

That also explained the conversation with Sasori. Even though they have gone after Gaara, they had multiple attacks on Naruto. They needed Naruto for something.

Sakura licked her lips. She was deep in thought. Why would they need Sasuke's blood? She knew it wasn't an Uchiha family keepsake. Maybe it was for a new fire jutsu? No, then why would they need Naruto's and her blood as well?

Unless…

Sasuke was meant to represent somebody. Someone that they couldn't get blood from so they had to go to the next best thing.

Orochimaru!

Sasuke knew almost everything Orochimaru did. He knew how to summon Manda, he had a Kusanagi sword, and he was powerful and respected in the Sound Village. He was like a mini Orochimaru. Sakura thought back to the box. Could Orochimaru's name be scripted on the box as well?

That would mean that Naruto and herself would represent Tsunade and Jiraiya.

But, what was the other name on the box?

It has to be someone that all three Sannin were close to.

Sandaime. The Third.

Sakura got up. Frantically, she searched for any scroll on the Third Hokage of Kohona. She found one. It was made from rice paper. A red ribbon closed it. Sakura carefully unraveled it to find five words on the scroll, simply written in black pen.

Sandaime-sama. Orochimaru. Tsunade. Jiraiya. Technique.

Sakura gasped. Was it some kind of new summoning technique that required all of the Sandaime's students' blood? And if their blood could not be received, then they would have to get the Sannin's students' blood? Like, it would be passed on? She guessed that it would be reasonable because all three of them could activate Gamabunta, Katsuyu or Manda. Sakura shuddered.

What powerful technique could have to require their blood?

Sakura shook her head.

_'I'm not going to let whatever this is happen'_

_'I have to get in contact with Konoha soon!'_

She placed the scroll behind the bingo books. She would come back later. She ran a hand threw her tangled, black hair and turned on her heel. Walking out, thoughts spun around in her head. Little did she know that more surprises and obstacles were going to come, maybe one that could ruin her whole life. One emotion that had already broken her heart and caused her so much grief and pain.

Love.

* * *

The angry Leader's face was hidden in the pitch-black shadows. Hidan and Kakuzu sat on wooden stools, eyeing his every move. Sasori was kneeling while arms-crossed, red-eyed Itachi leaned against a wall.

"I will not hesitate to kill all of you unless you get Haruno Sakura's and Uzumaki Naruto's blood"

"We need each Sannin's student's so we can activate the Third's ancient summoning technique" "With that summoned, we can destroy all of Konoha, destroying the Kyuubi and Suna, getting the Shukaku"

"Then, we will be the most powerful shinobi in all five countries" He looked at Itachi.

"I am holding you in charge of this situation" "You have three weeks to get the remaining blood" Itachi nodded.

"Hn"

The Leader's eyes narrowed. "Do not underestimate me Uchiha" Itachi looked at him. The Leader looked back. "Head back to Suna" he ordered. Sasori exchanged glances with Hidan. Itachi didn't say anything but just turned around and headed for outside.

* * *

The darkening sky was a flaming red with thin veils of white clouds. Sakura walked out of the base to see members training. A lake with a bridge was to the right. Trees and shrubs were everywhere. Sleek as a cat, she made her way to the bridge. Large, elephant eared leaves shaded and camouflaged her.

She had discovered her weapons and now had them in her holsters and pouches along with the vial. She had also discovered her chopstick. Her hair was tied up in a bun. Purple eyes were wide alert. She dropped her knapsack and searched for something inside. Sakura pulled out a long scroll. One that Tenten had given to her. Quickly performing some hand seals, Sakura threw the scroll up in the air.

Kunai's, shuriken, katana's and other weapons rained down. Members screamed. Sakura could hear Deidara swear and Kisame roar in anger. Quickly, she made her way threw the treetops. Most people would think she was heading for Konoha.

Nope.

She was heading for the Kazekage's.

* * *

Sasuke was currently in the Grass. Only a couple more hours and then he would be in the Sand. Sasuke gritted his teeth. He had to go faster. He ran threw a small village in the Grass, passing people and little children. He immediately skidded to a stop. Retracing his steps, Sasuke made his way to a bulletin board. Obsidian eyes widened.

**ISHIDA YUME**

**Looking for information on the Akatsuki. Sent by the Godaime of Konoha herself, if anyone has any information, please inform us and we will reach Ishida-san. **

Sasuke looked at the picture. Smiling purple eyes looked back at him. Wavy, black hair cascaded down her back.

_'I'm looking for her'_

_'She's Sakura…'_

Sasuke clenched his fists and spun around, taking off. A little piece of his mind hoped for Sakura to be alright.

* * *

Sakura couldn't feel any other presences heading after her. Probably waiting for Itachi to come back. Ouch, she felt bad for those members. Sakura pumped chakra into her sandals as she whizzed past trees and land.

Her feet landed on the soft sand as she stopped in front of the large gates. Recognizing her, the guards opened the gates to Suna.

Sakura stared at little houses, buildings, malls, and schools. People sold spicy food and light clothing in shacks. Children clinked kunai and practiced basic jutsus in the school. ANBU and jounin and papers in their hands, hurrying to the Kazekage's. Sakura scurried down the road. She rushed into Gaara's office. Temari stood in a chair, twirling a blonde lock of hair around her.

She looked a little older, eyeliner and mascara on her face. Two little gold fans now hung from her waist. She was sitting at a desk, probably doing some filing or paperwork. Temari looked up and gasped as she heard the door shut. A look of joy made its way to her face.

"Sakura!" she yelled happily. She looked around and stood up, leaning against a desk. "Where is everyone else?" "Party!" Sakura shook her head.

"Temari, I really need to speak to Gaara…!"

* * *

_Tsuzuku..._

_Wow! That was really long for me. Next chapter: Itachi comes back and Sakura contacts Konoha, Sasuke arrives at the_ _hideout (when Itachi is there!), Gaara and Kankuro make an appearance and Shikamaru stars in a mission!_

**REVIEWS CORNER:**

**Circles in the stream: Amazing question. Well, it is part of her act. Yume is supposed to represent weakness, like Sasuke in Itachi's eyes. If she was Sakura right there and then, well, Inner Sakura would show what she is made of. Thanks a lot for the review!**

_Well, so long for now…_

_Plz leave a review!!!!!!!_

_-Shadowsakura321_


	8. Chapter 8

Yo! I am really sorry if my chapters are short, I'm trying to improve! Anyways, thanks a bunch for the reviews! Here's chapter eight!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Itachi's red eyes spun wildly like a mad animal. Akatsuki members fearfully scurried away. Kisame dropped his bottle of sake as Deidara swore. Sasori massaged his temples. "How did you not know she was gone?" Hidan roared. 

Deidara stepped up "Well, we thought she was in her cell or in the kitchen, we didn't even know she was outside, yeah!" he yelled defensively. Itachi ignored him and pushed past Deidara. He turned around "Sasori" "Keep them in order" Sasori nodded as Itachi vanished.

* * *

Sakura hugged Gaara and closed her eyes. Temari wiped a tear from her eyes as Kankuro leaned against a wall, a glint of happiness in his eyes. Sakura pulled back from Gaara "I need to send a message to Konoha" she whispered. Gaara nodded and snapped his fingers. A small, white carrier bird appeared on his window sill. Kankuro threw Sakura a scroll which she easily caught. Scribbling a letter to Tsunade, she hurriedly attached it to the pigeon. 

_Tsunade-shisou,_

_The plan kind of backfired. I know I was supposed to be willingly captured and stay there but I had no choice. I escaped to Suna. I am going back. You might think that this is stupid but I do not. There are some things that I must clarify. But I warn you, even if it hurts, please keep Naruto away from the Akatsuki at all costs. I have reason to believe that they want Naruto's blood for some other reason. It has to do with Sandaime-sama but I am not one hundred percent sure about it. So please, try to keep him out of harm's way._

_Sincerely,_

_Sakura_

Gaara's light green eyes scanned the letter. "You're actually going back?" he asked, surprised. Temari gasped, running towards Sakura.

"No!" "Are you crazy?!" "You can't go back!" she screamed. Kankuro nodded.

"Pinky, this decision is stupid" he warned. Sakura smiled at their care but shook her head. "No, I must go back" she stated coldly. Temari stepped back and hung her head low. "Alright, but remember you are always welcomed in the Sand" Gaara said quietly. Sakura sniffled and wiped her eye.

"Thanks Gaara-kun, Kankuro-kun, and Temari" she said. "This bird is the fastest carrier pigeon in the Sand, it will get in Konoha in a matter of about three hours" Gaara said. Sakura nodded and watched the little bird chirp.

After a round of last minute hugs and quick pecks on the cheek, Sakura shut the wooden door shut and made her way out of the Kazekage's office and then out of the village. Gaara leaned out of his window sill and sent the bird off. It fluttered in the sky, flapping its wings and turning direction to Konoha.

* * *

Sakura sped threw the trees. She nearly fell off a branch as she felt Itachi's chakra speeding towards her own. Sakura dug her fingernails into the bark of her tree. She grabbed her fan that was hanging from a string around her waist. She opened it and shot a gust of freezing air to Itachi. His cloak was visible now and his eyes looked hungry. He flew back about five meters and then pumped chakra into his sandals, making him stay stuck to a branch. 

**'Remember!' 'You're supposed to get captured!' 'Not fight him!'**

_'Well, what can a kunoichi do?' 'Stand here and let a murderer take advantage of me?' _

**'HELL NO!'**

Itachi threw some kunai which Sakura dodged easily. She felt pain erupt in her shoulder as she saw a shuriken graze her left shoulder. Sakura swung the fan back. Itachi narrowed his eyes. She wasn't conducting wind or air.

Dark, golden sand erupted from the sand dunes and shot at Itachi. It swirled around him, trying to grab him. Itachi skillfully dodged the massive sand. Sakura smirked. The sand crept up his leg and squeezed it.

The sand threw Itachi back into a tree. Sakura quickly made some hand seals for a basic genjutsu. The sand crept up the tree and began to wrap itself around Itachi. Several kunai and shuriken barely missed him. Sakura's eyes widened as she felt sand wrap around _her._

A switching technique!

Itachi looked at her with beady red eyes. There she went again. She knew it was coming and such basic jutsus could not work on him. Yet, she allowed herself to be captured. Again. Itachi's eyes narrowed. Was there something she wanted? Was she a spy? He knew she was from Konoha. There was something going on, something she wasn't telling him.

Itachi quickly knocked her out. Sakura gasped as she felt him attack her pressure point. The sand dissolved as Itachi carried her back to the Akatsuki hideout.

He walked threw the doors as if it were nothing and pushed open her cell door. They were going to have to be more careful with her. He lay her down against the wall and shut the door. Darkness engulfed the room. Itachi left the cell and went to talk to Kisame. "Make sure she doesn't escape" he warned. Kisame nodded greedily. Sake was out so he was fully awake.

This could cause some problems.

_Hours later…_

BANG! BANG! BANG! Purple eyes shot open as Sakura immediately jumped up. She heard yelling and the clash of metal. Suddenly, she heard crackling. Crackling of lightning. Sakura's eyes widened.

Chidori.

Sasuke blasted the nearest wall with his chidori. It crumbled into pieces. Explosive clay birds flew at him. Sasuke sliced them with kunai and then jumped out of the way to avoid the explosions. Red sharingan found red sharingan. Sasuke's commas began to spin. "Itachi…" he said. Itachi smirked and leaned against the wall, kunai in hand. "Foolish little brother" he stated.

Sakura was surprised that she wasn't chained up. Could Itachi have a soft spot? No, he was probably just hurrying. Sakura felt her away around the darkness and found a light switch. She squinted her eyes as lightning flooded the room. Getting adjusted, she focused her chakra into her fist. BOOM!

Sasuke knew that strength. It was Sakura. Or Yume to be precise.

Sakura hid behind a wall as she saw both Uchiha brothers.

'_Crap!' 'Sasuke-kun being here could ruin everything!'_

She stepped out of the wall, throwing some kunai at Sasuke. Surprised, he dodged them quickly. "Come with me" he said coldly. Itachi smirked "foolish brother, having emotions will only make you even weaker" Sasuke clenched his fists but didn't say anything. He understood. Itachi didn't know. He was going to play along.

"Hn, kunoichi, come with me" he repeated again, this time fiercer as if silently pleading. Sakura was terrified. "No!" she shouted.

Itachi smirked as he saw his younger brother's eyes widen. "Enough of this" he said, making hand seals. Sasuke stepped back. A huge, red fireball sped towards Sasuke. He dodged it, bringing his Kusanagi sword towards Itachi. Itachi dodged and punched Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke flew back, smashing into a wall. Sakura looked between the brothers. This was her worst fear. Both of them fighting in front of her.

Sakura had no idea what to do.

* * *

Tsunade's eyes scanned the letter. Her hands shook. Shizune looked worriedly at her. Hazel eyes snapped towards her assistant "send in Shikamaru!" Shizune nodded. Minutes later Shikamaru appeared. He yawned "what is it Godaime-sama?" he asked. Tsunade looked up "you are to assemble a team of four Konoha ANBU to go after the Akatsuki!" Shikamaru perked up. "What?" he asked, gasping. 

Tsunade nodded "Sakura might need back-up" she said. Shikamaru nodded "hai, I will get Neji, Hinata, Naruto and Tenten" Tsunade bit her lip.

'_But I warn you, even if it hurts, please keep Naruto away from the Akatsuki at all costs.' _

Tsunade looked at Shikamaru. "No, do not get Naruto" she said sternly. Shikamaru gaped at her. "Nani?" "Godaime-sama, this is crazy, not getting Naruto-" Tsunade cut him off "no" "Get someone else"

"I also have sent a replying bird out to Suna, and with the Kazekage's permission, you will be accompanied by Sabaku no Temari" Shikamaru looked at the ground.

"This is troublesome….but I'll do it"

Shikamaru walked out of the room to find pairs of eyes looking at him. Oddly, Neji, Hinata, Tenten and Naruto were all looking at him. Shikamaru looked at Naruto. His eyes were downcast. Everyone had heard everything. He opened his mouth to say something but Naruto was already gone.

* * *

Sakura gasped as blood flew everywhere. Sasuke charged at Itachi, hitting him in the shoulder. Itachi threw some shuriken at his younger brother. Appearing next to him, Itachi kicked him hard in the abdomen. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw Sasuke's hands rapidly move, forming hand seals. 

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" He was summoning Manda. His eyes had an intent to kill. Suddenly, Kisame appeared, swinging his Sameheda. Sasuke barely had enough time to register what was going on as Kisame sliced his shoulder, draining some chakra. Clay birds towards Sasuke as a large puppet appeared as well. Sakura stepped back.

A loud rumbling noise was heard as Manda appeared. Sakura almost thought of summoning Katsuyu. But, then they would know that she also summon the slug, therefore they would turn on her and try to get her blood. For them to get blood, they needed to know that the student knew** everything** that the sensei did. Sakura felt a hand grab hers as more clay birds exploded around Sasuke. The walls caved in as Manda appeared, slithering up, looking at them.

Sasori's puppet charged towards Manda as Itachi made a fireball towards the large, hideous, purple snake. Manda's long tongue slithered out, trying to strike them. Weapons were thrown to his stomach. Manda groaned as he fell lifeless on the ground.

Deidara hoisted Sakura up as they jumped on a bird, Kakuzu and Hidan flew on another one. Sasuke cried out in pain as Kisame sliced another shoulder. Sakura looked at him, hurt and in pain. She bit her lip. Deidara grabbed Itachi while Hidan grabbed Sasori and Kakuzu grabbed Kisame.

The place was crashing down. Cracked debris was everywhere. Manda groaned in pain as he fell down into a ball. "Where are we going?" Sakura yelled over the roar of the disaster. "To the main base in the Cloud, yeah!" Deidara replied. Sakura watched in horror as things collapsed by Sasuke. She forced herself not to scream. Purple eyes widened.

The scroll!

The vial!!

Sakura patted her pouch to feel the vial. She felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. She would have to do without the scroll. Everyone flew away from the crashing hideout, leaving Sasuke behind.

Sakura looked back, black hair flying everywhere. She looked at Itachi. He was stoic, cold, and impassive. Sakura shivered at his face. How could someone look so evil in a situation like this? Sakura could feel the reflection of the orange, golden flames in her purple eyes as she saw with horror: the fort set ablaze.

* * *

Tenten put her eagle ANBU mask on and checked for all her weapons. She glanced over at her teammate worriedly. Neji had become colder when Sakura had left. She had thought that he had liked her-and she was happy for both of them. They deserved one another. 

It was a hard time for everyone.

Hinata fidgeted around in her outfit. After everything Sakura had done for her, it was so hard for her to except the fact that Sakura was out there alone. The look in Neji's pale eyes were hard. Naruto watched from the balcony on Tsunade's office. He didn't dare to go down there. He looked at his girlfriend and then at the rest of his friends. Blue eyes closed as he silently prayed for everything to stop and be alright.

Tsunade looked at Naruto from her desk. She sighed and forced herself not to cry.

Hinata gazed up to see Naruto looking at her. She managed to smile at him, a tint of red on her cheeks. Naruto faked a smile and flashed a thumbs up sign. Hinata licked her lips and watched Shikamaru arrive. He began to talk to them about the plan. Everyone listened intently.

Izumo and Kotestu bid them good luck and farewell as they stepped out of Konoha. Naruto watched them fly through the tree tops and then watched them disappear into tiny specks over the horizon. Temari would be joining them when they reached Suna. Then, they would travel to the fort.

Temari had put some chakra on Sakura's palm; it would show the place she was in a lot. That would show that the building was actually the fort. Neji forced himself to speed up. Chakra pumped into his soles of his sandals, Neji past Shikamaru and now was the first.

Tenten sighed and looked at him through her mask. He was going to die of exhaustion before they reached the hideout. Shikamaru bit his lip and remembered how he had not personally told Ino that he was leaving. She was probably crying now.

How troublesome…

* * *

Sakura wiped her eye and lay back. Surprising, she felt her head rest against a cloak. She was going to jump back and start yelling at Kisame. But then, she realized that the cloak was Itachi. She could almost feel and see the smirk twitch on to his lips as she shivered. 

Sakura pushed a strand of black hair away from her face. Soot caressed her forehead. A couple of gashes were on her palms and she had a cut on her finger. Most likely from a piece of glass whizzing past her. Sakura still couldn't believe seeing Sasuke there. She denied him. For the Akatsuki.

For the mission.

Still, his screams, the blood, Manda appearing, the evil glint in his eyes reminded her of Orochimaru himself. "You okay, yeah?" Deidara asked. Sakura looked down, trees and houses a speck. "Yes, I'm fine" she said. Itachi looked at her. "Kunoichi, do you know my brother?" he asked. Sakura closed her eyes and mentally cursed. She didn't want this to come up.

"I've heard of him, _Uchiha-sama_" she replied politely. Deidara stifled a laugh. A glare from Itachi shut him up. From the other bird, Kisame looked at the three. Itachi never communicated with a girl, or a hostage like this. Kisame smirked.

'_Looks like you got to him Dreamy'_

"Then why did he ask you to come with him?" Itachi asked, prying. Sakura reddened. "I don't know, maybe he didn't want me to get hurt" she said. "Aa" Itachi said. Sakura smiled. Memories flooded back to her. All Sasuke used to say was 'hn' and 'aa' right?

"Are we going to have to set up camp?" "The sun is setting and plus we really have no supplies" Sakura said nervously, looking up to the darkening sky which was now turning a dark blue.

This was bad. He had left the vial with Sasuke's blood at the hideout. The Leader is going to be pissed. Itachi looked at Yume. She shifted around. She was different from all the other people he had met in his life. It was odd.

* * *

Temari gathered her things and hugged her brothers. She stepped out of Suna, the guards bowing. She greeted the familiar faces. Shikamaru placed a hand on his hip. 

"This is so troublesome, night is basically right here so we need you to lead us there fast" Temari rolled her eyes "keep your eyes in your head, you'll get there fast"

"Can we hurry up?" Neji asked, annoyed. Temari opened her mouth to reply but Tenten shot her a look. She closed her mouth and huffed. The five ninjas made their way to the treetops. Temari looked at them. "Follow me" she ordered.

About an hour later, everyone's feet landed on the wet, muddy ground. Temari gasped. Manda lay down, curled up in a ball. Trees were broken and it looked like a hurricane had just past by. The hideout was in pieces. Glass plates and cups were everywhere. Cement fell to the ground. Black tar coated the place as a small fire was ablaze by some shrubs. Hinata pressed her fingers together.

"Byakugan!"

Veins appeared along Hinata's eyes and face as milky, white orbs looked for any sign of survivors. Hinata gasped. Under a pile of wood and kunai, lay a figure. "There's someone under that pile of debris!" "I can see his heart slowly beating!" Hinata cried.

The team ran over, stepping on glass and kunai. They tried their best not to run in puddles of blood. Shikamaru heaved a piece of wood out of the way while Tenten carefully took pieces of glass and charred metal and threw them away. Shikamaru's eyes widened as he saw a familiar red and white fan emblem stitched on the person's back.

'_No'_

'_This can't be…'_

Shikamaru carefully rolled the person over. Hinata's gasp could be heard as five shinobi stared into the charred face of Uchiha Sasuke.

"S-Sasuke…??"

"Uchiha…"

"Sasuke-san!"

"Oh my gosh, it that Sasuke?!"

"SASUKE!"

Hinata's eyes widened. Shikamaru slowly turned around to be staring into the face of Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

_**-Tsuzuku-**_

**_Well, that was my longest chapter yet! I hope you liked! I'm not so sure about the next chapter but I'll think of something good. Thanks to everyone who is reading. I am really grateful to the people who read and review but I like to see new reviewers too! EVIL CLIFFHANGER!!!_**

_**Plz leave a review!! Peace out.**_

_**-Shadowsakura321**_


	9. Chapter 9

KKKYYAAA!!!!!! OMG, OMG, OMG a hundred and one reviews!! THANK YOU SO MUCH PEOPLES! I think it is every author's dream to have at least 100 reviews. Any author out there agree-raise your hand! CHA! Well, hope you enjoy. Keep dem great reviews coming ya'll:D XD.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Deidara's two large clay birds landed on the soft green grass. Sakura hopped off, purple eyes staring at the main base. It was huge with about three floors. Slates of stone made a pathway up to the dark, wooden door. The base was surrounded by tall, weeping willow trees and other plants. Just like the other fort, a rushing lake was to the right with a white bridge spanning over to the other side of plain woods and grassland.

Sakura looked to see Itachi get off the bird. Their eyes met for a minute. He looked away but she looked away faster. When you're on a mission, the last thing you wanna do is eye-lock with the Uchiha Itachi.

Deidara ran over to Sakura, slinging an arm around her. Shining blue eyes looked at her "look at this place, yeah!" "I haven't been here in over three months, yeah!" Sakura managed to laugh. "Is that so?" she said, chuckling at Deidara's spark of happiness.

He reminded her so much of Naruto. It was kind of weird, bonding with the Akatsuki. Deidara was like Naruto or Ino while Kisame in a way was like Tsunade or Naruto.

Sasori was quiet like Shikamaru or Shino but yet he was a good person to talk too. And as always, Itachi was Sasuke. Sakura walked up the pathway, the members following her. The smell of mint drifted to her nostrils. Sakura wet her lips. After the encounter with Sasuke, the vial and blood, Itachi, Gaara…this plan was soon going to get out of control.

And she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to stop it.

_'Light was born, then darkness was born'_

_'You always that-we would always be one'_

_'But that day when you left'_

_'It caused so much pain and grief'_

_'The bonds were broken'_

_'The sky was crying'_

_'Can you hear me today?'_

_'How are you, can you even imagine my face…?'_

* * *

Sasuke's eyes slowly opened. He gasped. Debris, wood and glass were everywhere as black tar marked burned areas. A tree had crashed down, sending dead leaves spiraling around his feet. The hideout was in pieces. Manda lay asleep. Black eyes traveled over to see Tenten and Neji extinguishing the last bit of orange-red flames. Wait…Konoha shinobi?? ANBU?

His old friends??

Sasuke immediately struggled up, ignoring the stinging pain in his upper body. He was pushed back down by a firm hand on his chest. "Lie-e s-till S-Sasuke-san-n" someone stuttered. Sasuke looked up to see Hinata looking back at him, her cat ANBU mask over her ears like sunglasses.

_'Hinata…'_

_'Hyuga…'_

_'Tenten…'_

"Baka!" "Ow, troublesome woman…" Sasuke peered over to see Shikamaru rubbing a bump on his head from one of Temari's golden, iron fans.

_'Temari…'_

_'Shikamaru…'_

Sasuke shut his eyes. He knew it was morning because he could feel a little dampness on the ground. The wind was cool and he could also feel the hot, radiating sun from the east beating down on him. Sasuke felt a shadow loom over him but ignored the person. He didn't feel like seeing another pair of eyes bore into him. How long was it? He was eighteen now.

Five long years.

He remembered arguing with Neji, sparring with Tenten, fighting with Naruto, talking with Sakura. He remembered going to the Hyuga compound and rap on the door to see a smiling Hinata at him. Or remember standing next to a sweat dropping Sakura when Lee was preaching about youth.

Missions, parties, fun, hardship.

He remembered all of that. But yet he pushed it away to seek revenge.

All because of Itachi.

The man that had Sakura right now.

"**In order to receive the Mangekyo Sharingan, you must kill your best friend"**

Sasuke felt Hinata put a cool cloth over him. He groaned. The water cooled his hot forehead. "Y-you have a-a very high fever-r S-Sasuke-san" Hinata whispered quietly. Sasuke still felt the shadow looming over him, blocking him from the sun. He sighed, his hands rubbing his head.

"Oi, are you okay??"

"…Sasuke-teme?"

Sasuke's eyes snapped open.

* * *

Deidara led Sakura to her room "I will paint it sooner, yeah!" "I'll make it look nice for you Yume-chan, yeah!" Sakura smiled, a tint of red on her cheeks. Deidara opened the door. Sakura looked around the room. Not a cell, but not a beautiful room either. But, hey, what could you expect when you're a hostage? A bed was to the right. It had a desk, a dresser, a nightstand and a closet which was filled with nothing.

The walls were bare white. A frizzy black carpet swept under their feet. Sakura smiled. It was better then the cold, disgusting cell. "Thank you Deidara-kun" she said. Deidara smiled "anytime Yume-chan, yeah!" Sakura walked in as she heard the soft clicking of Deidara shutting the door behind him.

Sakura took off her sandals and carefully took out the vial. She stuck it in a drawer of her desk. Sakura hopped on the bed. It was surprisingly soft, with cream-colored pillows and a flowered blanket. Her feet dangled off the side as she looked out the window. A thick layer of dust coated the window sill. The amber, bamboo curtains were pulled back, giving her a clear view of the glistening, blue water and the freshly painted bridge.

Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her earlobe and sighed. This was going to be a long mission.

* * *

Sasuke sat up. "Dobe" he whispered. Naruto smirked. "Long time no see" he teased. Sasuke smirked "hn". Hinata glanced between the two former teammates. A little smile was plastered on to her face. Neji and Tenten walked over to the trio. "Hyuga" Sasuke said coldly. "Uchiha" he shot back.

Smirks appeared on their faces. Hinata looked at Tenten who rolled her eyes and mouthed a word to her. Prodigies. Temari and Shikamaru knelt on either side of Sasuke. "This is so troublesome" Shikamaru said. Temari hit him again on his shoulder. Shikamaru's hand immediately flew to rub it. "Ow, troublesome woman, those things are iron!" he said, scowling.

Temari rolled her eyes. "Stop complaining" she said, annoyed. Naruto looked at Sasuke. His former teammate, brother. "Sasuke-teme, when you got here, did you find Itachi?" he asked. Sasuke nodded and clenched his hands. "But still, I was too weak" he said angrily. Naruto looked at him painfully. "Did you see Sakura-chan?" he asked hopefully.

Sasuke nodded again. Everyone saw his black eyes turn bloody red. Commas began to spin. "She didn't come with me" Sasuke muttered. Sasuke glared at Naruto "she wanted to stay with my **brother**" Neji sighed. "Uchiha, it was her mission to say with the Akatsuki" "How did she look?" Tenten asked worriedly. Sasuke imagined a worried face, creamy skin, wavy black hair, and big purple eyes. Sasuke scowled and shut the thoughts out of his head.

Was that the little, annoying, weak girl he knew long ago?

* * *

Shizune wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled wearily at the nurses bringing the last patient into his room. The hospital had been really busy lately and since Tsunade was usually busy it was only her. ANBU and patients swarmed in every hour like water filling up a tub. The tub was filling really fast. Also, since the academy was starting, students came in with bruises and cuts from weapons all the time.

Konoha was short on medic-nins and Shizune was trying to do everything she could. She sighed and plopped down in her chair of her office. Shizune's eyes traveled to a picture. It was of her, Tsunade and Sakura. Naruto had taken it the day Sakura had finished her medic training and had surpassed Tsunade.

Sakura was in the middle, Shizune to the left and Tsunade to the right. All of them were smiling. In the background, the sky was bright blue and tall, green trees surrounded them. She had taught Sakura so much. Without her, the hospital seemed to have lost a spark.

"_Shizune!!!" "I passed the eighth level!" Sixteen year-old Sakura ran down the tree-shaded road of Konoha. Shizune looked up from healing a broken knee of an ANBU. A smile appeared on her face. "Amazing Sakura!" she cried happily. Sweat rolled down Sakura's cheeks as some sweat made her strawberry colored hair stick to her pretty face. _

_The ANBU took off his lion mask and grinned at Sakura. "Great work!" he said. Sakura looked up to see the smirking Genma. She blushed. "Thanks a lot!" Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her earlobe. "The ANBU exams are coming up so everyone in the rookie nine and Team Gai are entering and trying" she panted. _

_Shizune nodded "you'll totally make it!" she encouraged. Sakura smiled. "Thank you, I have to go and tell Tsunade-shisou!" Genma and Shizune waved goodbye to Sakura as she ran to the Godaime's office. Shizune finished bandaging Genma's knee and pushed back some of his hair on the cot. _

_She kissed him softly on the lips and smiled. "I have to hunt down Tsunade-sama to go do paperwork, as Sakura said, the ANBU exams are just around the corner and jounin are flooding into Konoha" Genma smiled "love you" Shizune reddened "love you too" she whispered and vanished._

Shizune wiped the tear from her eyes. Shizune stepped out of the hospital. The cool, salty wind blew in her face and made the tears sting. Shizune hugged herself, her weapons clanking together in the breeze. "GET OUT!" Shizune's head whipped around to find Tsunade yelling at a terrified Gai and Lee. She smiled and rubbed her sleeve of her shirt to clean her puffy eyes.

'_See Sakura?' 'Look what's going on without you here, it's chaos…' _

* * *

Deidara carried a tray with a bowl of ramen, some black chopsticks, a bottle of water and some crackers to Yume's room. He stopped. In Itachi's room, he heard voices. Quietly, he pressed his ears against the door to overhear.

"Before Sasuke arrived, she was in your room"

"Hn"

"She was snooping, as if looking for something, anything"

"Hn"

"She took something but I didn't get to see what"

"…"

Itachi looked at the man he was talking too. Pale eyes stared back at him.

"Where is Yume?"

"In her room, by Kisame's and Deidara's"

Itachi's eyes narrowed. He walked towards the door.

"Itachi…"

Itachi stopped.

"You do realize that we need Sakura's and Naruto's blood-the Leader said we must have them by three weeks end" Itachi smirked.

"I am well aware of that…Zestu"

The Akatsuki member stepped out of the shadows. "Which one will we go after first?" he asked. Itachi's smirk grew wider. "The one closest to us…I've finally figured it out"

"Haruno Sakura…is here"

* * *

**-Tsuzuku-**

**CLIFFHANGER!!!! Evil me. Anyways, I know it's REALLY short but I needed to get the cliffhanger in. Hope u enjoyed. Please leave a review!! Next chapter: the gang talks with Sasuke and some other stuff:) The lyrics aren't lyrics to any song, I just created them. Also, I've seen this story on so many alerts which I'm thrilled about but please leave a review too! They inspire me. **

**Peace out! **

**-Shadowsakura321 P.S Oh also, I know Genma isn't ANBU but I felt like putting him in. Genma and Shizune look kawaii together, ne? Well, ANWAYS! Bye!! Leave a review! XD. **


	10. Chapter 10

Hello again! Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is very…interesting. I didn't even expect myself to write something like this! Long, dramatic chapter!! People, please review for this chap!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

_He knew Deidara was there. He just didn't care. Just acknowledged. So when Itachi stepped out, Deidara shouldn't have been that surprised. Itachi hit Deidara's neck pressure point. A curse echoed threw out the hall. Deidara slumped down to the cold ground. Red eyes looked unemotionally at his slumped figure, his blonde hair covering his face and bright blue eyes. _

_The metal tray clattered to the ground as the wooden chopsticks rolled of the tray and onto the tile. _

_The white ramen bowl broke, sending shards and pieces of glass out flying. The steaming ramen noodles and soup fell out of the bowl. Itachi vanished, going to find Sakura._

_They needed to talk._

She had the vial. She had informed Konoha. Now what? Just leave? Sakura sleepily rolled over on her bed and stared at the plain ceiling. Slowly, she stretched her hand out to grab something on the night stand near her bed. The stand was dark cedar with an emblem of three triangles lined up next to each other, a line going threw. Sakura opened the little container that held the things inside of it.

A sad smile crossed her face.

'_I'm not needed anymore' 'The mission is complete' _

'_They will never get Naruto-kun and even if they get his blood, they will never get mine'_

Tears formed in her eyes. **'NANI?' 'I can't believe your going to do this!' **

'_It's for the best…'_

Sakura sensed Itachi's chakra coming towards her. Footsteps echoed the quiet halls, gradually getting louder and louder. Itachi opened the door to find Sakura asleep, an unreadable expression crossing her face. Itachi quirked an eyebrow.

He couldn't hear her breathing. Rushing over, Itachi rolled Sakura over on her stomach. To any other person, it would look like she was just napping. The blanket covering every inch of her, the curtains pulled down so she could sleep better. But to a shinobi…

Itachi pressed two fingers against her temple in her neck. He moved his body closer. _Crash!_ Something glass fell to the ground. Itachi's red eyes traveled down. It was a small, oval-shaped glass container with an opening side. It was in pieces, with three little things spilled out nearby. Itachi barely had the chance to stop his eyes from widening.

Pills.

* * *

Neji and Sasuke were competing to see who would get to the Cloud first. They passed each other in the treetops, annoying their comrades. Temari wanted to take out her huge fan and swish them all the way to Konoha were Sasuke would be bombarded with questions and Tsunade would deal with an angry Neji. They would send each other nasty glares every few minutes. Oddly, the two prodigies cared about one girl.

Sakura.

She had melted their hearts and was kind. Pretty, short-tempered, and even scary sometimes. But she always offered a kind heart. Uchiha Itachi and the Akatsuki were fearful people. Hyuga or Uchiha: they wouldn't know what to do if something had happened to Sakura. Also, they wouldn't be that surprised if Naruto and Gaara would transform into Shukaku and Kyuubi.

Everyone cared about Sakura.

Sasuke clenched his fists as Neji passed him, sending a cold breeze his way. The darkening sky was getting a dark blue as the stars were coming out. The ferns and shrubs swayed in the wind. Sasuke saw a squirrel scurry up into a tree. "How close are we by the Cloud?" Sasuke hissed to Shikamaru. Shikamaru looked at his surroundings. "We're close, about only another four hours" he replied. Naruto punched a fist in the air.

"Yeah!" "We can go rescue Sakura-chan and I'll show everyone how powerful and strong I am!" Naruto boasted. Next to him, Hinata blushed while Temari rolled her eyes. Sasuke looked back and couldn't help but smirk. Something's really never changed.

'_Sasuke-kun!'_

'_Yeah, Sasuke-kun show them!'_

'_I…I-I was wondering i-if I could sit n-next to you…'_

'_Welcome back Sasuke-kun!!!'_

'_You taught me that solitude was painful!' _

Sasuke gritted his teeth together and forced himself to go faster. White eyes looked back to see Sasuke gaining speed. Neji smirked. Sasuke didn't know that Sakura now liked him. Sasuke and Sakura were over.

"Sasuke-teme, wait for me!!!" Naruto wailed, jumping over a thicket of leaves and branches. Neji whizzed past the stumps and trees. His hands were clenched. He had finally found someone to love. Someone to care about.

And of course, Uchiha Itachi had to be associated with her.

* * *

Kisame and Sasori were looking over Itachi's shoulder. Deidara fearfully looked at the cold figure of Sakura. Sweet, nice, powerful…suicidal?? Deidara bit his lip and pressed an ice pack tighter on his forehead. After he had woken up, there was a throbbing pain in his head.

Two medic-nins rushed into the room. One pressed his hands together and put them on Sakura's cold forehead. A light blue chakra emitted from his hands. The other one was quickly mixing things together in a little vial.

Sasori watched with curiosity as the medic-nin threw in a little green powder. "What is that?" he asked. The nin looked up and held up the vial. A clear liquid was inside. "It looks useless but when drunk; it sends electric shock waves up into the heart, trying to get it to start again" "Still no pulse" the other medic-nin said frantically, putting two fingers on Sakura's neck.

The last medic nin quickly finished stirring the white liquid. "Open her mouth" he ordered to Itachi. Uchiha Itachi wasn't a man to play with. Still, he gently pried Sakura's lips apart. A weird feeling crossed him. Really. Weird. The medic-nin put some medicine in Sakura's mouth. They waited for about two minutes. The medic put two fingers again on Sakura's neck.

His face was grim. "I'm sorry" he said. Deidara peered over Itachi, the ice pack slipping from his hands. He gulped.

"Yume-chan…yeah?"

* * *

"_Byakugan!" _

Veins appeared along the sides of Neji's pale face as light lavender, possibly pure white eyes hardened. Past trees, shrubs, shops and basically the whole Cloud, Neji saw a huge building, camouflaged in the thicket of bushes. Neji sensed Sakura's faint chakra coming from the fort. "She's on the outskirts of the Cloud" he said. "Just like the last fort" Temari whispered.

Shikamaru nodded "yeah, remember this is the Akatsuki" "From what I heard from Hokage-sama, she says that they are trying to do something very powerful and very dangerous" he said. Naruto looked over at Shikamaru.

His blue eyes shone with interest. "Shikamaru, what exactly did Tsunade-baachan tell you?" he questioned. Everyone looked at the Team captain. Shikamaru sighed. "All she said was that it was something very special and deadly" "If the Akatsuki would succeed, then the five shinobi nations would perish" Hinata shuddered. What power.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Damn troublesome criminals" he muttered. Shikamaru barely dodged the iron fan that was coming his way.

"Stop!" Neji yelled. Every shinobi skidded to a stop, their chakra sticking to the branches, making their feet stick to the bottom. Naruto wobbled on a thin branch. Hinata gently but firmly grasped his arm, a small smile plastered on her face.

"What-t i-is it Neji-niisan?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan. Glassy black eyes turned a dark red with spinning commas. He reached for his Kusanagi sword. _"I have no time for this…" he hissed. _Temari stepped back, her eyes wide with alert and fear. "Nani?!" "How did they find us?" she cried. About ten ninja's-all clad in white, purple and black surrounded them in the trees and on the ground. The same symbol was sketched across their headbands.

In the middle of the group knelt a man. Silver hair was pulled behind his back. He got up and smiled. "Hello, Sasuke-kun…" Kabuto whispered, smirking and pushing up his glasses.

* * *

Tsunade looked at the ANBU kneeling on the ground in front of her. "Any news from Nara Shikamaru's team?" she demanded. The ANBU solemnly shook his head. "No Hokage-sama but we have received news from sand shinobi that the team has picked up Uchiha Sasuke" Tsunade slammed her fists on the table. "What?" "He is a missing-nin of Konoha!" she said. The ANBU nodded "hai Hokage-sama"

"Temari-sama of Suna called in saying that they found Uchiha Sasuke lying in rubble"

"Apparently, when the group got to the Akatsuki hideout in the Sand, everyone was already gone, leaving a torn apart fort and a nearly dead Sasuke" he said.

Tsunade nodded. "And Sakura…?" she whispered. The ANBU's eyes were downcast. Every shinobi admired the great Haruno Sakura. She was the spirit of the ANBU department. "There has been no further news about Sakura-hime, Hokage-sama" the ANBU said quietly. Tsunade shut her eyes. "Thank you" she replied.

"You may go now"

The ANBU nodded and put his index and middle finger together. He was gone in a puff of smoke. Tsunade reached for the next sake bottle in the closet. To her dismay, they were already empty. "Shizune!" Tsunade yelled. Shizune walked into the room, headfirst with papers. "Yes Tsunade-sama" she asked wearily. Nervously, she looked at Tsunade. Her chakra was fierce.

A small, scary smile appeared on her face. "Please bring in Maito Gai and Rock Lee" she stated.

The smile turned into an angry frown.

"I need to hurt someone"

* * *

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Naruto yelled, attacking two ninjas. "Kage bunshin no justu!" Dozens of Naruto clones appeared on the branches, kunai's in hands. Effortlessly, Neji wiped out three of them with his Hakkesho Kaiten. Sharingan blazing, Sasuke fought one shinobi. He dodged the poison needles Kabuto sent at him. "What are you doing?!" he yelled at Kabuto. Kabuto smirked "remember our little deal Sasuke-kun?"

"The three years is basically up"

"We talked saying that if you pretended to be beaten by Itachi and let Shikamaru's team take you in, you would press the little red button on the tracker I put on you"

"That way we would know where you guys were so we could ambush you"

Kabuto's smirk grew wider. "All part of the plan" he stated. Neji growled "Uchiha…" he said murderously.

Sasuke's eyes widened "no, I didn't do anything like that!" he defended.

"BASTARD!" Naruto flew towards him; blue eyes now a fierce red. Naruto punched Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke went crashing into a tree. "You betrayed us!!" Naruto yelled angrily. The Kyuubi's chakra was now visible. His whiskers were growing out as his voice was getting deeper.

Naruto's face was clouded in rage. Blood ran down from Hinata's shirt. She was slashed with a pointed katana. "Naruto-kun…" she whispered, in fear.

Temari swung her fan back. Large, cold gusts of wind blew straight at the ninja. Shikamaru flew backwards, his arms flailing. He scraped himself as he hit a tree, his arms shooting up for him to grab a branch. He steadied himself from the wind. Temari was in front of him. "The point is for you to get them, not us!" Shikamaru yelled.

Temari ignored him, throwing kunai at the ninja. Temari gasped as her fan went wild. The gusts of wind were getting stronger now, like a hurricane. But they weren't attacking the Sound nin, they were attacking her comrades. "TEMARI!" Tenten screamed as she was flung back into a tree. Temari winced "I don't know how to stop it!" she yelled. Shikamaru braced himself against the trunk of the tree and planted his feet on the branch.

Temari fell to the ground, her fan stopping. They were high up in a tree. It was a tall oak tree with tons of green leaves and branches. Of course, Shikamaru had to be on a branch high up in the tree.

And of course, Temari had to falling from that same branch. If she hit the ground, she would be dead in a matter of seconds. And then, Gaara would kill Shikamaru. Shikamaru quickly preformed some hand seals to grab her with his shadow.

Temari arched her head back. Her fan was on the ground. Tenten groaned as she clutched her throbbing head. Shikamaru hoisted Temari up. He looked into her eyes. They were blank. Completely blank as if she was dead. It was frightening. "She's under a genjutsu!" Shikamaru yelled to Tenten who was trying to get up. A sound ninja sped towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru cursed under his breath.

Suddenly, Hinata was in front of him, kunai in hand. "It's a clone" she whispered to him. She threw the kunai at the fake. It poofed into smoke. "Take care of Temari, I want to go help everyone else" she said. Shikamaru nodded and lay Temari on the branch. She was under a powerful spell so it would take some time. He smiled. "Hinata" he stated. Hinata turned around. "Yes?" she asked.

He grinned "your not stammering anymore" he said. Hinata smiled "Sakura is like my idol and I'm not going to let these ninjas get in my way" she stated boldly.

Blood spurted from Sasuke's mouth. "I'll teach you about betraying us again you bastard!!" Naruto yelled. Neji grabbed Naruto before he could deliver anymore punches or kicks. "We need to kill off these shinobi" "We can worry about Uchiha later" he growled. "We need to get to Sakura"

Naruto felt a soft hand on his shoulder. "Neji-niisan is correct Naruto-kun" Hinata whispered. Naruto nodded and glared at Sasuke.

"You're lucky" he threatened.

* * *

The room was an eerie silent. No one dared to speak. Sakura looked as if she was dead, her skin deathly pale. "'I'm sorry?" Kisame repeated. Deidara looked at the medic-nins.

"Is that you could have done, yeah?"

Itachi hid his emotions as usual but felt something strange bubble inside of him. Pain? Regret?

A medic-nin spoke softly as the other one nodded…

"She's dead"

* * *

**REVIEWS CORNER (117, THANKS A LOT!)**

**Reader-not-a-reviewer/I hope the beginning answered your question. Thanks for the review:)**

_-TSUZUKU-_

_NO!! This is not the end!! Of course not! Well, this chapter I think is awesome. Please, please, please leave a review!!! I can't tell you if Sakura is really dead because you have to find out! Anyways, thanks again for the reviews from the last chapter and throughout the whole story! Make sure to leave a nice review! If any of ya wanna guess what happens next, go right a head but tell me if you like it. Peace. _

_Ja ne!!_

_Shadowsakura321 P.S REVIEW! Or face the wrath of my fearsome squirrel…I don't know why I hell I wrote that. _


	11. Chapter 11

**_Whatz up? The reviews were the best for the last chapter! Twenty eight for one chapter! Thanks to everyone out there who reviewed! Now here it is, the continuing part of Sakura's "death" Now without future ado, TA DA!_**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

"**Do these morons know anything?"**

'_Hey, they weren't the ones taught by Tsunade-shisou'_

Sakura was alive. It looked false but it was true. Another thing Sakura had made before leaving was pills. They were bluish green and were carried in a tiny glass container.

When she drunk one, it would appear as if she were dead. No one except Tsunade could feel a pulse or a heartbeat. If she was in the hospital, no equipment could tell and she would be pronounced dead. But, she was the legendary Haruno Sakura!

Since she had an Inner Sakura, her real soul/spirit/personality would go join Inner Sakura in her mind when Sakura would drink a pill. Even though the pills seemed like a blessing, they were deadly and dangerous. The pills could be mistaken for a sleeping pill.

Now, no one else basically has an Inner Self. If the person took a pill, there would be no inner self to go join with in the mind! Therefore, the person would really die.

'**Holy crap, boy we are weird'**

'_Yeah…'_

'**So, what's going to happen?'**

'_Well, I'm gonna reverse the jutsu'_

'**Why?' 'Why can't we play dead, we might get CPR by Itachi!!'**

'_Baka!' 'I can sense Temari's, Shikamaru's, Hinata's, and Neji's chakra'_

'_I can also sense two other really beaten down ones'_

'**Who are they?' **

'………'

'**Sakura…?'**

'_S-Sasuke…Naruto!'_

* * *

"Orochimaru has no use for you anymore, Sasuke-kun so therefore he is to use you as a vessel" Kabuto said smirking. Sasuke's eyes traveled to Naruto. He was seething, looking about to kill him. "Bastard, you lied!!!" he spat. Kabuto chuckled. "Don't tell me you've never lied before, you've never been cold and hurtful"

Kabuto looked at Sasuke "remember, you've hurt Naruto-kun and all of these people before"

Sasuke looked up in the trees to see Shikamaru tending to Temari. Hinata and Neji were fighting side-by-side to finish off some powerful shinobi that had cornered them. Tenten was up in the air, twirling and spinning with all of her weapons. The Sound was trying to dodge the sharp weapons that were raining down from the bright sky.

Kabuto quirked an eyebrow, a mischievous smile plastered on his face. "Also, didn't you hurt that pink-haired Sakura girl?" That was it. He was pissed. Sasuke shut his eyes. Every ninja could hear blue, static electric bolts streaming around him. Sasuke drew his Kusanagi and transferred the chidori into it. He ran at Kabuto like lightning and aimed the sword straight for his heart.

"Kai!" Shikamaru placed a finger on Temari's hot forehead. He was working for about fifteen minutes on her since she was under something very powerful. Blank, creepy eyes slowly began to gain color. Temari moaned and placed a hand on her forehead. She looked down and looked as if she was about to faint again.

Shikamaru laughed. "Don't worry, your not going to fall" he said. Temari placed a hand on her head. "Kami-sama, did something really hard hit me?" she asked weakly. Shikamaru shook his head "no, you were under a powerful genjutsu and you probably don't remember it don't you?" Temari nodded. Shikamaru picked up a kunai "stay here" he instructed.

Black, shadow hands crept up a shinobi. Its hands slowly encircled around the ninja's neck. The shinobi began to gasp for air as the hands squeezed him harder. The kunai in the ninja's hand dropped as he fell to the ground, lifeless. Shikamaru teleported in front of him. He looked up to see Temari, eyes shut, leaning against the bark of the tree. He could sense Hinata's, and Sasuke's chakra running low. They were still pretty far away from the fort.

These shinobi needed to be dealt with fast.

Kabuto fell to the ground; blood soaking threw his purple shirt. Sasuke stood unemotionally above him. Kabuto's eyes were closed as Sasuke could already see the blood draining from his face as his face began turning pallid. Lifeless and sprawled, the dead body of Kabuto was some sort of a signal. The remaining, half-dead shinobi disappeared. The rustling of bushes could be heard. No one dared to go after them. No one wanted to go after them.

Sasuke's eyes looked over Kabuto. His eyes widened. "Shit!" he cursed. Tenten jumped next to him, her brown eyes looking at Sasuke from the two eye holes in her eagle ANBU mask. "What is it Sasuke?" she asked. Sasuke knelt down and examined the body. He stomped his foot "he quickly did his signature justu of creating another corpse-like figure of him"

Sasuke sighed. Panting, Hinata held back Naruto. "Why shouldn't I kill you now you bastard?!" Naruto screamed. Hinata hushed him. Somehow, her soothing words and calm touch seemed to calm Naruto.

Unsure and wobbly, Temari flew down to the ground, Shikamaru in front of her. She picked up her fan delicately and strapped in around her back. There was blood stained on the grass and some dead bodies by trees. Weapons were splattered everywhere.

"What should we do know Shikamaru-kun?" Tenten asked. Shikamaru looked at his tired teammates. "I know you're tired but we have to keep on going because we have already been delayed" he whispered.

Neji nodded and wiped a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth.

He looked forward. "Let's go" he stated.

* * *

'**KAI!'**

Green eyes slowly opened as Sakura let in one big gulp of air. "Dreamy!" Kisame slurred. Deidara stepped back, how? The two medics looked equally shocked as well. Itachi had a small, tiny look of surprise on his face.

"Kunoichi" he stated. Sakura looked up and reddened. She had just noticed their position. She was lying on the bed, the covers only covering her up to her stomach. Itachi had both hands on either side of the bed and was looking straight at her. She could feel a little of his cloak touch her bare shoulder. Itachi smirked as he saw her face beat up.

"I-Itachi!" Sakura cried. "What are all of you doing in here?" she asked. Deidara looked too stunned to talk. He pointed an accusing finger at the two medics. "They said you were dead, yeah!" he said. Itachi leaned closer to her "how many secrets do you have kunoichi?" he whispered.

"A lot more than you know" she muttered under her breath. Itachi picked up a pill and looked at it. He put them in his cloak and swept the broken glass to the corner of the room. Dazed, Sakura watched him. This was the Uchiha murderer.

The one who had ruined Sasuke's life.

Sakura rubbed her head. "Please leave" she said weakly. Everyone nodded and slowly walked outside. She was alive the whole time. This kunoichi was astonishing. Itachi still stayed. He reached for her arm and pulled her up. She jerked up and was face-to-face with Itachi.

He smirked. "You thought you could fool me" he said. Sakura's eyes widened as she began to shake.

He leaned closer to her "and I assume that you know all about the blood and Sandaime's summoning" he said. Sakura could feel him right near her ear and could feel his breath on her. She wanted to faint.

What could she do?!

* * *

Ino had heard from Tsunade-sama that Shikamaru had left. TSUNADE. Not her own boyfriend?! Sakura was her sister, best friend and Shikamaru was assigned to bring her back. Yet, he didn't even mention it during any of the time they had spent together. He had told Chouji. He had told Asuma-sensei. Why not her? Was something wrong with her?

'_Maybe he didn't want you to get upset…'_

'_Maybe he didn't want to hurt you…'_

'_Maybe he didn't want to cause you more pain…'_

'_Maybe he was just a lazy-ass, jerk who just wanted to accomplish another mission quickly!' _

Ino bit her lip and sighed. She lay on the ground and watched the clouds float by. Some were white and puffy and were lazily rolling by. Like Shikamaru. Some were thin veils of pure white and laid back. Like Shikamaru. Some were horizontal, flat clouds just floating up in the blue like they were bored. Like Shikamaru.

The clouds reminded her of Shikamaru.

She could almost feel the fabric of his green, ANBU vest against her shoulders and his hand entangled in her blonde hair.

"INO!" Ino rolled on her stomach, blue eyes wide alert. She felt Chouji's chakra speeding towards her. "Nani Chouji-kun?" Ino asked. Slim and thin now, Chouji had his very own fanclub and had matured into a fine, strong ANBU Konoha shinobi.

He looked at his girl teammate. A smile twitched on the corners of his lips. The sun beat down on both of them. It was currently about two o'clock in the afternoon with some blazing temperatures in the bright blue sky. "Tell me now!" she urged.

Chouji nodded "a messenger's bird from Shikamaru's team just flew into Hokage-sama's office" "It seems as if it was sent during a fight because there was some blood smears on the bird's bag, wings and feathers"

Ino immediately sat upright. "Is everything okay?!" she asked, fear in her voice.

'_You are so troublesome…'_

Chouji shrugged and sighed. He raked a hand threw his hair. His friends were out there. His other friend was with the Akatsuki.

"We don't know as yet, Shizune-san is going to test it against the rookie nine's and team Gai's blood"

"But, we are the most powerful group of good shinobi throughout the five nations so I don't think that no one is in critical condition"

Ino's eyes were downcast and wide. "O-Okay…" she stammered. "Go on about the bird" Chouji plopped down next to her and crossed his legs.

"Shikamaru's team has reached the fort!"

Ino's jaw went agape. "S-So fast?!" she cried. Chouji nodded, smirking. "Hai, they sped up and go to the fort on the outskirts of the Cloud!" Happy tears formed in crystalline sapphire eyes. Her blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight. "What's going to happen next?" she whispered.

She was amazed.

Chouji grinned and put his hands in his pockets.

"They're going to bring Sakura home!"

'_Hm, troublesome women…'_

* * *

'_Say it's true'_

'_There's nothing like me and you'_

'_Not alone'_

'_Tell me you feel it too'_

"Sa-ku-ra" he spelled out in syllables.

'_Cause I am, I'm falling in love with you'_

'_I'm never gonna stop falling in love with you'_

This must be a dream or a huge genjutsu. She was so dazed.

Itachi's eyes started to spin wildly. "I can't let you compromise my mission" he said, monotone.

Sakura's face hardened. "I won't let you!" Sakura winced as she felt her body to a back-flip. The pill had worn her out. She was really low on chakra. Itachi smirked and grabbed a kunai from his holster.

"Haruno Sakura…"

His smirk grew wider. "You nearly accomplished you job" "But deep down you're weak and pathetic like my foolish little brother"

Sakura clutched the blanket. Her palms were sweating. Itachi raised the kunai and leaned closer to her. Their foreheads were touching as the kunai was teasingly as her throat. Sakura gasped as she felt him apply more pressure to the blade at the tip of her neck. A small, crimson sliver of blood trickled down her neck.

He wasn't kidding.

'**DO SOMETHING!'**

But she couldn't, she was mesmerized.

Sakura felt his breath on her. Their lips were inches apart. She winced as more blood trickled down her neck. Their lips were now centimeters apart. Her purple eyes were searching his face for any emotions.

There were none.

Sakura only had one idea in mind.

Risky, crazy, stupid but it was the only idea that popped into her head.

She kissed him.

* * *

_**-Tsuzuku-**_

**_WOW! THEY KISSED!!!!! There was some ItaSaku action!! Yay! Please, PLEASE leave a review!! Next chapter: Shikamaru's team and Tsunade's big problem, also some Orochimaru and Sound! The lyrics were from the song "I'm Falling in Love with You" I don't know how this story is gonna end but it might be sad and dramatic. Well, anyways, this story is far from over ya'll!! _**

_**Hope you enjoyed!**_

_**Make sure to review!!!!**_

_**Dewa mata minna-chan,**_

_**Shadowsakura321**_


	12. Chapter 12

Hey minna-chan! You know what's weird? For chapter ten, I got twenty-eight reviews. In the last chapter, I got the half of that, fourteen! It's kinda weird. Well, anyways, this chappie is a big one and the 'breaking point' of the story. Make sure to leave a review, who knows, the reviews might even top chapter ten!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

The air was moist and quiet. Naruto could hear Kisame and Sasori fighting Tenten and Shikamaru. Up in the air, Hinata and Deidara were battling. The air turned cool and crisp. His sandals echoed threw out the pale halls as his eyes frantically searched for Sakura. He came to a door and opened it. He stiffened.

Sakura heard Itachi put the kunai into his pocket. Shakily, her fingers weaved threw his silky black hair. Itachi's tongue ran over her lips. She shuddered. She was kissing Uchiha Itachi. She heard the door creak open. Sakura broke the kiss. She looked into glassy black eyes. She could almost feel the smirk twitching onto his lips.

Maroon eyes traveled over to the open door. She felt tears in her eyes. Now, she felt utterly weak and useless. Standing there was Naruto, an unreadable expression on his face.

Betrayal

Solitude

Pain

Sadness

Darkness

Fury

Rage

Faith

Love

She had betrayed her friends. She had betrayed Konoha. She had betrayed Naruto and Neji. She had betrayed Sasuke! She pulled back from Itachi quickly, a small gasp escaping from her throat.

Katana in hand, Naruto rushed towards Itachi, red chakra encircling him. Itachi look passively at the ANBU running towards him.

With one raise of his hand, everything suddenly changed…

* * *

"So, Sasuke-kun is not our target, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto was on his knees, blood trailing from his mouth. He coughed and wiped the trail of blood. In the dim-lit corner of Orochimaru's lair, Orochimaru sat on a black, leather chair. His dead-arm hung lifelessly by his side. Evil, yellow, cat-like, slits for eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. "Yes, Kabuto-kun" he rasped.

"It seems that both the Akatsuki and the Konoha shinobi care about this one girl" he said. A scary smirk was on his face. He looked at Kabuto. "We will attack the fort and take Haruno Sakura by force" he stated. A raspy laugh escaped his throat.

Kabuto smirked and wiped his glasses.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama"

Orochimaru looked at him. "Do they know about Sandaime's technique?" he asked quietly. Kabuto nodded "I'm afraid so"

A dark chuckle escaped his throat. "We will use it as an advantage" "Soon Konoha will crumble"

"But first…"

Orochimaru's snake-like tongue darted out and wrapped itself around the handle of a pointed kunai. He chucked it at the wooden, brass door behind Kabuto.

Surprised eyes widened as the door before him blew up into tiny pieces.

Rock Lee barely had time to dodge the sharp kunai coming straight towards him.

* * *

"I've sent someone else out of Konoha" Tsunade said out-loud.

Shizune's eyes widened "someone else?" "Tsunade-sama, Konoha is running short on shinobi!"

Sad tears rimmed her eyes. "I know…decisions have been horrible lately" she whispered. Shizune gazed sadly at her. Tonton whined on top of Shizune's shoulder. Tsunade was a wreck since Sakura had left. It had been one month since she had gone, and Tsunade felt as if she had wanted to kill herself.

"But, I have sent this person to investigate Orochimaru"

Shizune's head snapped up. Two black eyes widened endlessly like portals. "O-Orochimaru!" Shizune cried.

Tsunade nodded and laced her fingers together. An empty sake bottle rolled out from under her feet.

"I know that Orochimaru is involved or will soon get involved" "Word travels very fast"

Shizune nodded "who have you sent?" she asked.

Tsunade smiled. "Rock Lee" she stated. Shizune chuckled "well, I know he will do a good job"

The air seemed to lighten a little as the two females laughed to themselves.

Suddenly, two ANBU appeared in front of Tsunade's desk. Immediately, they kneeled down in respect. Shizune recognized one of them as Genma. A light red covered her cheeks.

"Hokage-sama, the elders need to speak with you" one spoke. They poofed away quickly as Tsunade and Shizune could hear feet faintly running down the halls.

Tsunade and Shizune exchanged glances.

"Well, this can't be good" Tsunade whispered under her breath. Tsunade scribbled her signature on a black scroll and quickly tied it together with a bright gold ribbon. She looked at her assistant. "Make sure everything is okay here" she ordered. Shizune nodded. Tsunade pushed her chair in and walked out of the office.

ANBU could hear her black high heels clicking down the hallways and corridors.

'_Damn it, I know I'm in trouble…'_

Tsunade walked threw the two, huge polished doors. Chairs surrounded a large, oval-shaped table. Tsunade immediately noticed the profiles on the entire rookie nine and Team Gai spread across the surface. The thin curtains were pulled back to give her a great view of the Hokage's mountains, a clear and beautiful sky and the rest of Konoha. The two, green gates of Konoha stood out.

The two elders sat in the front of the table. Jiraiya sat next to the man. The elderly woman had on a kimono made from the finest satin and most expensive silk. Her gray hair was tied up in a single chopstick as pearl earrings dropped from her ear. A pink obi closed her kimono together. The man's green glasses gleamed in the sunlight. Jiraiya sat with a worried expression on his face.

Everyone looked up as Tsunade entered the room. "Come Tsunade" the woman beckoned. Nervously, Tsunade sat down and folded her arms. She could feel all eyes on her.

"Tsunade…you've made a big mistake" Jiraiya spoke softly.

Wide-eyed, Tsunade looked up.

* * *

Naruto gasped as he fell to the ground. Blood spurted from his mouth as he shut his eyes. Sakura screamed. Unemotional, Itachi stood, bracing against the head of the bed. The covers were wrapped around Sakura as she looked horrified at her fallen teammate. Somehow, Itachi had quickly reversed Naruto's attack. Kunai and shuriken stuck to him. Tears rolled down Sakura's cheeks as she shakily just stared at Naruto.

His eyelids were dropping as blood poured from his mouth. He was losing blood fast. He was going to die.

'**DO SOMETHING!'**

'**We are the best ever in medic-training!'**

'**THIS IS NARUTO, GET UP AND DO SOMETHING!'**

Sakura wanted to go and help but her feet refused. She felt a small prick on her. Sakura looked up to see blood trickling down from her arm. Purple eyes widened.

_No…_

Her eyes traveled to a kunai in Itachi's hand. Blood was coated on the sharp tip. Her blood. Sakura gasped.

He just had her blood.

He could easily just get Naruto's from the pool to the right of his.

The Akatsuki was going to succeed.

_NO!_

Sakura darted out of bed, her legs wobbly and uncertain. Unfazed, Itachi threw shuriken at her. They grazed her shoulders but she didn't care. Her feet trying to keep her up, she wobbled to the desk and yanked the drawer out frantically. More shuriken stuck to her legs. She screamed.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, mustering up his voice. He coughed. Itachi saw Sakura slip the vial and necklace over her neck. Now it was her turn to be surprised. "Kunoichi…" he whispered darkly.

"You bastard!" Sakura spat. She gasped and fell to the ground. Pain shot through her body.

The average body contains about four and a half liters of blood. Naruto looks like he had lost about three liters already.

He was dying.

Sakura grabbed Naruto and hoisted his unconscious body onto her shoulders. Her strength was slowly coming back. Shakily, she stood up and disappeared as Itachi flung another kunai to her. She appeared on the other side of the bed and gasped as the kunai embedded itself against a wall.

A rice-paper note rolled down in black calligraphy.

An explosive note.

Heaving Naruto up, Sakura poofed away into the main hallway. Itachi disappeared as well, scooping both Naruto's and Sakura's blood into different vials. The walls heaved in together and began to crumble.

Neji panted heavily as he dodged Kisame's Sameheda. "Where's Sakura?!" he hissed. Kisame looked at him as if he was crazy. "Sakura?" he repeated. Neji rolled his eyes. "Yume" he stated. Kisame smirked. There was no sake left so he wasn't the same drunk today. "She's alone somewhere"

"With Itachi"

Pissed, Neji ran towards him. Hands sticking out, Neji viciously attacked Kisame's vital points. Swinging his sword wildly, Kisame tried to dodge his attacks. Kunai's bombarded from the ceiling at the Akatsuki. Sasori's puppets encircled Hinata. She dodged their poisonous strings and grasped a kunai tightly in her hand.

"NEJI-KUN!"

Brown hair flew around as Neji's head whipped back. And then her saw her.

Naruto in her arms, her tattered ANBU outfit, messy pink tresses, pale face and dark purple eyes. He watched as her knees buckled from under her as she collapsed, Naruto tumbling over her.

Black circles were under her eyes as tears streaked down her face. It was all happening in slow motion, the fight, Sakura, Sasuke, everyone. It was huge, scary and one of the biggest things Neji had ever witnessed.

"LIVE, LIVE, LIVE!" Sakura screamed. She pressed her hands together and ran them over Naruto's stomach. The blotches of blood began to disappear. Naruto's face was whitening. "Naruto!" she screamed. Sakura put a hand against his hot forehead.

Blue eyes slowly opened. "I'm so sorry Sakura-chan" Naruto whispered. Sakura managed to smile. "It's okay…" she sobbed. Sakura stroked his cheek.

Her brother.

Kami-sama, how she loved him.

"You're gonna make it" she whispered soothingly. Naruto chuckled one last time before passing out. Wobbling, Sakura braced herself against a wall and ran towards Kisame. "Dreamy!" Kisame shouted. Sakura's eyes were clouded with anger.

Black swirls started to encircle Sasuke. Dark purple and black chakra glowed around him. His head was hung low as a stripe of blood was streaked across the Uchiha fan symbol. "Bastard…" Sasuke snarled at Itachi. Itachi's Sharingan was glowering at him. "You weakling" he growled.

Lightning crackled threw Sasuke's sword as he and Itachi battled. Sasuke was quick but Itachi was agile. With ease, he slapped Sasuke's hand away from his face and sent him spiraling into a wall.

Shikamaru's shadow justu engulfed Deidara as he tried to struggle out from his grasp. Two clay birds flew down but Tenten sliced them with her newly sharpened katana. Shikamaru fell down as Deidara broke free. Tenten blocked herself in front of Shikamaru and felt blood seep threw her shirt.

Suddenly, Temari came out of nowhere and waved her fan in front of Deidara. Cold winds made Deidara stagger back. Tenten took this as her chance to aim a kunai at Deidara's neck. It grazed him, making a trail of blood slide down his neck. Tenten's eyes hardened.

When it came to weapons, she never missed.

"Pathetic, you think you can beat me now?" Itachi said maliciously. Sasuke gritted his teeth as more chakra engulfed him. "Foolish little brother" Itachi said disappearing.

Sasuke shook his head and darted after him "no, you're not getting away!"

The little vial dangled on a string around Sakura's neck. Furiously, she tried to attack Kisame. "What made you turn on us Dreamy?" he asked, almost hurt.

"I was never on your side, you bastards!" Sakura sneered. Sakura felt someone yank her back by her hair. She screamed and thrashed her hands in the air. Neji threw a kunai at the person but missed. Instead, Kisame swung his Sameheda and sliced Neji's stomach. Blood poured out from the wound as some of Neji's chakra was gone. He fell to the ground, a hand pressing against his red wound.

Sakura felt her wrists being pinned behind her back. She heard electric static coming her way.

'_Oh god…'_

Sakura felt the smooth blade of a kunai and her neck. Red eyes glowing and now at stage two of his cursed seal, Sasuke looked mad and wild with his chidori crackling from his Kusanagi sword.

Sakura moaned quietly. Itachi's body felt warm and hot against her.

'_I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THINKING ABOUT THIS!'_

'…**.damn he's hot'**

'_How are you helping?!' _

Stoic as usual, Itachi's eyes looked to meet his brother's.

"Take one move and I'll kill her" he said.

* * *

Tsunade jumped as the elderly woman slammed her hand on the table. "You sent a team of young ANBU out to battle the Akatsuki but yet you didn't even send a medic?!" she yelled, furious.

Tsunade looked down. "Sakura is there" she said. The woman huffed and rolled her eyes. "Sakura is most likely low chakra and tired as hell"

"You think she's ready for about five of her closest friends to come barging in and she'll basically have to heal everyone of them?"

"Honestly, Tsunade I don't even know why in the world why you even sent Sakura on this mission!"

"Hey, Sakura offered to take this!" Tsunade snapped back.

"STILL!" "You're team was not prepared for the worst!" "One of them is probably already dead!" she spat.

Tsunade was shaking. Her almond-shaped, hazel eyes were wide and lifeless. Sweat rolled down her cheeks.

"NO, I'm sure their handling everything in a good manner, their great ANBU" Tsunade spoke.

"And I'm sure that Sakura is _fine…"_

The man sighed, his green glasses reflecting from the sunlight. "Why do you defend Sakura so much?" he asked.

Tsunade's eyes were downcast. She sighed. Her hands were stuck to the table, small cracks forming on the wood.

"Because I know how it feels to be desperate to be strong like your teammates too" Tsunade whispered.

This time, it was Jiraiya's time to look up.

* * *

"_Stop, Sasuke-kun…"_

"_Please stop…"_

Sasuke stopped in his tracks. His brother was holding her close to him.

It was supposed to be Sasuke holding her.

He couldn't do it. He can't hurt Sakura. Even if it meant hurting and killing Itachi, he can't hurt Sakura. She was weak and annoying but gradually she had matured into a fine, young woman. He could count endless times when she was there, peeling things for him to eat, kneeling besides him, wiping some hair from his face, crying over him, pleading for him for the two of them to just hang out.

He looked up painfully. Her cheeks were stained with streaked tears on her porcelain face. Her messy bangs covered most of her face. Purple eyes were wide open.

No. He can't.

Sasuke's eyes hardened as he looked at Itachi.

But then again, still…

This was the horrible man that ruined his life. It wasn't fair! He was only eight years old. That day he had lost all of his family and his parents. His clan had died. Yet, Itachi had spared him because he was weak. Now, he had sacrificed everything to become stronger to kill him. Up to this day, he was working his ass off. He was an avenger.

_**S-a-k-u-r-a…**_

Blood.

_**I-t-a-c-h-i…**_

When he had walked in, there was so much blood.

Crimson liquid teasing him of his power.

Blood on the walls.

Blood on the curtains.

Blood on the floor.

Blood on the stairs.

Blood on the tables.

Blood on his family, his cousins, his beloved aunts and uncles.

Blood on his parents.

There was so much blood.

Blood everywhere.

DAMMIT!

_Kill him! Sasuke urged himself. _But Sakura? Sasuke's grip tightened on his sword. Sakura looked back at him. "KILL HIM SASUKE-KUN!" she screamed. Sasuke's head whipped up. A sad smile was on her face. "It's okay…I loved you so much and I still do as a great friend and brother"

'_Great friend and brother…'_

"Make yourself happy" "You deserve this!!" she chided. She was shaking. Goosebumps engulfed her arms. Sasuke's eyes began to spin. Her face.

She was still smiling.

Still smiling.

For him.

How many times had he seen that smile?

Sasuke dropped the sword. The blue lightning crackled furiously. Black curse marks slowly began to fade away. The dark purple chakra began to seep away. Sasuke fell to the ground, his eyes blank.

Itachi smirked at the sight of his fallen brother. He looked at the young girl in his arms.

"_Foolish little brother…" _

* * *

_**-Tsuzuku-**_

……

……

……

_**WOW! Long, long chapter! I thought this was really good. Anyways people, peace to all of you. MAKE SURE TO REVIEW!**_

_**Luv ya!**_

_**Shadowsakura321**_


	13. Chapter 13

Sixteen reviews-me like! Thanks a lot and keep em' coming! I just got from New York yesterday and just came back from drama so I wanna update!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321 _

* * *

Tenten had taken a serious beating from Deidara. She coughed off some blood and groaned. Her shoulder was killing her and throbbing with pain. She looked around. The tension was grappling at her throat. She felt as if she was going to explode, the walls caving in…so much blood! "Shikamaru!" "We have to retreat!" she screamed franticly, dodging an explosive clay bird. In defense, she managed to throw two sharpened kunai's at Deidara. One hit his leg as he collapsed, pain screaming threw his body.

"This is so troublesome…" Shikamaru stated. His shadow hands were slowing creeping up Kisame's neck. Shikamaru planted his feet on the ground and groaned as Kisame forcefully tried to get loose. Temari threw a golden fan at Kisame's stomach. The fan began to glow as it hit Kisame hard in the stomach. His gasped.

Gaara's sand slowly began to seep threw the cracks of the beautiful fan. It wrapped itself around Kisame's legs. "Gift from my brother" Temari said smugly. Kisame felt like a sandwich. His neck was being basically strangled by the best shadow-user of Konoha while his legs were being crushed by the Godaime Kazekage's sand.

"Let go" Shikamaru ordered. Temari nodded and flicked her wrist. The sand immediately evaporated as the fan flew over to her. The shadows began to seep away as Kisame fell to the floor. "It'll have him paralyzed for a good three hours" Shikamaru said, standing up. "I'm surprised that his lungs didn't explode!" Temari exclaimed. "Hai, looks like Sharky can take it pretty well" Tenten said, appearing by her friends.

Disgusted, Shikamaru looked at Kisame flopping on the ground like he needed air.

"Troublesome shark…"

Hinata saw something roll to the ground. She looked at it and saw a small clan emblem scripted on it. The Hyuga sign.

"_Sakura!" "Sakura, wait a minute!"_

_Bag slung over her shoulder, hair dyed and eyes changed, Sakura turned around to find Hinata running towards her. Sakura smiled. A fresh tear rolled down Hinata's cheek. _

"_Hinata, hi and I guess goodbye" Sakura said, forcing a fake smile. _

_Hinata titled her head and put out her hand. "Here's something I want to give you" "My aunts made it" Hinata reached over and planted something in Sakura's hand. Sakura looked down to find a single, dark brown wooden chopstick. The tiny Hyuga clan symbol was emblem was stitched on it. It felt smooth._

_Sakura bit her lip and looked questioningly at her friend. _

"_Er…thanks?" she said. Hinata chuckled softly and softly caressed the chopstick._

"_Nothing from the Hyuga clan is not dangerous"_

_Sakura's face broke into a true smile. "It's injected with powerful, chakra-eating poison" "Take it, the Akatsuki will be a handful" Hinata warned. Sakura nodded and looked down back at the chopstick. She dropped her bag and put the chopsticks in her new jet-black, silky hair. "Thanks Hinata"_

"_Take care of that baka Naruto-kun for me" Sakura said, rolling her eyes._

_Hinata giggled "be safe" _

"_I will"_

"_Bye"_

"_Ja ne Hinata-chan" Sakura picked up her bag and flashed Hinata a smile. _

_Hinata watched as her friend preformed a basic jutsu. Then, she was gone. Hinata sighed._

_She looked on the ground and remembered the endless times that they watched each other's back._

"_Come back Sakura…come back alive"_

* * *

Hinata quickly picked up the chopstick and put it in her hair. She looked around. Sakura was with Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto were fallen, and everyone else was tired and almost gone out of chakra. It was up to her.

Hinata pumped chakra into her soles of her ninja sandals, making her shoot up in the air. Sasori turned around to face her but Neji was able to hit his pressure in his legs. His knees buckled from under his body as his three puppets thrashed wildly.

Hinata took this as her chance as she landed perfectly on the floor and ran towards Sasori at high-speed. Dodging expertly the puppets and needles, Hinata quickly took the chopstick out her hair and thrust it towards Sasori's neck. Violet-black hair framed her face as she panted and looked coldly at Sasori.

He gasped as his hands reached towards his neck, his puppets swinging. Jyuuken style, Hinata finished his puppets and they fell lifeless to the hard ground. Sasori groaned on the ground. Hinata grabbed her cousin's hand and pulled him up. She smiled at him while he managed to smirk a little. They had worked together.

As a family.

* * *

Sasuke watched as Itachi's grip tightened on Sakura. She kicked her feet and screamed at the top of her lungs. It echoed. So scary. It was terrifying and reminded Sasuke of his mother screaming for Itachi to stop.

But he didn't do anything.

He couldn't.

He wasn't there.

W-E-A-K

"Get off of me!" Sakura yelled, trying to scratch him. Itachi nuzzled her neck. Sasuke's eyes widened. Sakura gasped.

'**OH MY GOD!'**

'_S-Shut u-up…'_

Obsidian eyes traveled over to the crackling blue lightning coming from his Kusanagi sword. Orochimaru flashed threw his mind. Anger took over him. A battered hand reached out and tightly clutched the handle of the sword. "I'll be taking this" Itachi said smoothly as he unclipped the necklace from Sakura's neck. Just having his hands on her: Sakura felt as if she was going to melt.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh no you won't" she said, smirking. Suddenly, Sakura began to literally dissolve. She slipped out of Itachi's grasp like she was some sort of alabaster, translucent material. Both Uchiha's looked equally surprised. Itachi was seething with anger as he watched the replica of the necklace fade away from his calloused hand.

On the ground across from them, blue eyes fluttered open and smirked slightly. His eyes made over to Sasuke. "Sasuke-teme, there's something else that you missed out when you left" "Sakura-chan now can make Inner Sakura come out of her" "Not even a Sannin or even the Uchiha Itachi could figure it out because it is EXACTLY like her" Naruto grinned cheekily "even I fall for it when we train, which sucks cause I'm the best ninja in Konoha!"

Sasuke smirked and took this as his chance. Ignoring his screaming legs, Sasuke raised his Kusanagi sword and ran towards Itachi. "Die" he whispered.

The real Sakura poofed over to Naruto and slowly hoisted him up from his shoulders. "You okay?" she asked. Naruto nodded, his eyes wandering on his female teammate. Purple eyes followed Naruto's heated gaze. She looked down to see the vial. Sakura chuckled "guess I have to tell you about that" she said. Uncomfortable, Naruto managed to nod.

"Yeah, guess you should"

Temari, Tenten, Hinata, Neji and Shikamaru came running towards the fallen duo. Neji looked up into Sakura's eyes. "Neji-kun" she whispered. Neji wanted to kiss her right there and then but he knew that she had been through so much already. More pressure would only cause more confused emotions and pure stress. Things that Sakura _didn't_ need right now.

Neji looked over his panting teammates to the two Uchiha brothers. Pale, white eyes narrowed.

At least he understood.

* * *

Out of nowhere, Zetsu suddenly appeared. Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of the new Akatsuki member with his light eyes and vines growing out of him, making him look like a Venus-fly trap!

'**PLANTY!' **

Green vines shot out and wrapped themselves around Sasuke's sword. Everyone began to see the sky blue lightning disappear. Its last crackle sounded like a dying roar from a mighty beast. Neji looked at Sakura. "SASUKE-KUN!" she yelled. Neji frowned. How could she still care about that snotty Uchiha-brat?! Sasuke gasped as blood ran down his chin. "S-Sasuke-teme" Naruto said quietly.

The two members disappeared as the other ones lay in the dust. "We've got to go Shikamaru-kun" "Not maybe all the way back to Konoha today but we've got to get out of this place!" Sakura said urgently. Shikamaru nodded "hai, I know" He looked around. Himself, Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, Temari and Neji looked like they could all manage.

"Hinata, grab Naruto" "Neji, grab Sasuke" Shikamaru ordered. From the ground, Sasuke looked up. "No way" he growled. Neji looked at him in disgust. "For once, I agree with the Uchiha"

"Do it" "Now" Shikamaru said. Reluctantly, Neji walked over and roughly grabbed Sasuke. Sakura looked down but didn't say anything. Likewise, Hinata gently grasped Naruto's wrists and slowly pulled him up. Naruto smiled in gratitude "thanks a lot Hinata-chan!" "You're the best!" Hinata blushed. Sakura smiled.

Some things never changed.

* * *

"We have to inform the Leader!" Zetsu yelled. Monotone, Itachi walked down the torch-lit hallway. "Leave Kisame, Sasori and Deidara there, eventually they will recover" "I will go talk to the Leader" Zetsu nodded. "And I?" he inquired. Red eyes turned to look at him. "Stall" "Stall any attacks toward the Konoha shinobi" Zetsu gasped.

"B-But Itachi-san!" Itachi stopped and glared at him.

"We will attack with force" "Konoha will crumble because of us and another unlikely group"

* * *

Barely alive, everyone made it out of the base. Tired purple eyes looked around to see nothing. They were on the outskirts of the Cloud. Suddenly, she remembered something. Sakura twisted her head back to see probably the most beautiful thing ever living with the Akatsuki.

The glistening river.

"Come here!" she urged her teammates. They all followed her to the edge where the bright blue water was so clear you could see amazing colored koi fish swim in it. The white bridge spanned across the water to the other side of bushes and trees. "Why don't we just cross the bridge?" Tenten suggested. Sakura shook her head. "No, I haven't seen any life there" "Not even a single bird or a chipmunk"

"I think the Akatsuki put a powerful genjutsu around the place"

"So if any civilian or person wanders by there base and crosses the bridge, they will be trapped"

"It's like another safety precaution only for S-ranked criminals"

Shikamaru nodded "that would explain why I cannot sense anything there except for weeds and plants" Shikamaru turned to Hinata. "Hinata?" he asked.

Hinata nodded and glanced at her boyfriend she was steadying. "I'll be fine, don't worry" he whispered, shakily grasping on to a piece of the wooden bridge. Hinata smiled and moved forward.

"Byakugan!"

Over the bridge and water, she saw trees, plants, and shrubs.

No birds, snakes, deer or even insects.

What power to cast a jutsu over this much of land.

Hinata nodded as veins vanished from her face. "Sakura-chan is correct" Neji smirked and looked over at the petite kunoichi "nice going Haruno" he said huskily. Sakura smiled and winked at him "thanks a lot Hyuga" she flirted. There was obvious flirtation there and Sasuke did not like it.

Sakura sighed and pointed down the river. There was a strip of land so it was possible to follow the body of water.

"I remember Kakashi-sensei telling us "if your lost, follow a river downstream, and it will usually lead to a road which leads to a town" she quoted.

Naruto nodded "survival lesson 101" he joked. Temari smirked "okay, let's do it!"

Carefully, they walked along the rocky strip of land that was beside the shimmering water. Every once an a while, Sakura looked down to see the pretty red, black, or orange, exotic koi fish swim by. On some rocks she saw some fiery salamanders or lizards. She even thought that she saw a snake by the river's edge.

'_How could something so beautiful be by something so horrific?'_ she thought.

They came to stop. Naruto grinned "Sakura-chan was right!" he yelled and then coughed. Hinata hastily patted his back for comfort. Sasuke rolled his eyes. _'Dobe…'_

It was kind of like Konoha only a little larger. People were out in the markets and gleefully in the town.

A large blue sign read…

_**WELCOME TO THE KYOSEKEN VILLAGE**_

Sakura looked around. Were these people allies of Konoha?

"Yeah, I hope we are welcomed" she muttered under her breath.

* * *

_-TSUZUKU-_

_How'd u like? I think we really got to see a lot of a growing Hinata in the chappie. Yay Hinata! Anyways, no this will not be a SasSaku or a NejiSaku but will MOST LIKELY have SOME hints. The thing about following the river is actually true! Follow a stream or a river downstream and you will most likely find a road which leads to a village/town! _

_Okay, then…_

_Until next time! Peace out, leave a review please!_

_-Shadowsakura321_


	14. Chapter 14

Yo, Anata Wa is going strong!! But sadly, it's gonna end soon. Sniffles. My first multi-chaptered story almost done! Well, thanks a billion to everyone who has supported me. I would like to personally thank **SharinganAngel** for putting my story on her website dedicated to ItaSaku. My reviews are dropping though so PLEASE…take a second and write a little somethin! If I get less reviews, then you guys will have to wait longer for an update or I might even cancel the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Desufnoc.

What did that spell when you flipped it around?

What word did that make when you unscrambled the letters?

Confused.

CONFUSED.

Sakura was confused about love, about the men in her life. _'Why_ _does this always happen to me?'_ she thought bitterly.

Sasuke.

Neji.

…..

….

…..

Itachi…

The village was large but quiet. Everyone walked along the shady streets of the bustling shops and made themselves to an Inn. Even if he was on his last leg, Naruto the gentleman held the door open for everybody. And then he closed it on a glaring Sasuke. Sakura stifled a chuckle. Neji closely followed by Shikamaru made their way over to the receptionist's desk. She was short and stocky with brown curly hair and pretty hazel eyes.

Her eyes traveled to the tired-looking group of shinobi plopped down on the comfy chairs. She laughed quietly. "Traveling shinobi I presume?" Shikamaru nodded and looked back at his team. Eight people. "We'll take four rooms" The receptionist nodded and handed them four keycards. "Enjoy your stay at the Milai Inn" she said politely. "Thanks" Neji stated.

Shikamaru beckoned everyone to come. He looked at the cards. Rooms 58, 59, 60, and 61. "There on the first floor, she probably realized that we were going to leave really soon"

They walked down the dark carpet floors, looking at the plaques that stated each room. They looked kind of weird, dragging each other with only one or two bags with dirty clothes on and cuts all over them. Onlookers stared at them strangely. Naruto burst out laughing as a wide-eyed toddler staring at Sasuke started to cry hysterically.

They came to the rooms as Neji, Sakura, Tenten, and Sasuke took the cards from Shikamaru. The arrangements were Sakura and Hinata, Tenten and Temari, Sasuke and Naruto, and Neji and Shikamaru.

The shinobi didn't want fancy luxury nor poor quality stuff. Each room came with a TV, a bunk bed, a bathroom, a table, a desk and some other furniture and accessories. "I'm going to take a hot shower" Sakura said tiredly, wiping some dirt off of her shirt. Hinata laughed quietly as she plopped her bags down on the ground. Reaching for something, she put something in Sakura's hand. "You're chopstick" she said.

Sakura grinned cheekily "thanks!"

"I CALL THE TOP BUNK!" Naruto yelled, trying to open the door, furiously turning the lock. Patiently, Sasuke slowly walked down and ignored Naruto's rants and tapping foot.

ROOM 58 was written on the door. "Which room is Hinata staying in?" Sasuke asked. "Uh, room fifty nine" he said. Sasuke nodded and smirked. They were right next to them.

Hinata and…Sakura.

Naruto desperately tried to unlock the door. "I think the door is broken!" he wailed. Sasuke rolled his eyes "moron, you need a key card" he said, holding up the piece of plastic and tauntingly waving it in front of his friend's eyes. Blue eyes followed the card like it was a bowl of hot ramen.

Sasuke dodged Naruto's snatching hand easily. Going into the room, he looked around. It looked quiet, nice, and comfortable. "I'm going to visit my Hinata-chan!" Naruto said eagerly. He impatiently tugged on Sasuke's sleeve as they walked out of their room and rapped on the door. Sakura opened it and grinned.

"Hey Naruto-_kun,_ Sasuke-kun!" she greeted. Sasuke's eyes switched from Sakura to Naruto. _'Since when did the dobe get the kun added to his name?' _Sakura beckoned them in as Naruto sped inside and kissed Hinata. She turned red. "Hey Hinata-chan!" he said, plopping on the sofa and switching on the TV. The two began to talk about missions and everything else. Sakura could see that Naruto was relieved that she was alright.

By the door, Sakura and Sasuke stood in silence. Sakura sighed but didn't dare to meet Sasuke's eyes. "When?" Sasuke asked, breaking the silence. Sakura shifted uncomfortably as his smooth, masculine voice. It reminded her of Itachi. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "When what?" she asked, turning to meet his gaze.

Black eyes met purple. Sakura was at a loss of words. Those eyes, she remembered all the times she would die if he looked at her as he was looking at her know. The countless times she would fall into a trap when she stared into his orbs.

But now…

Instead of seeing obsidian eyes, she saw blood-red. Sakura gasped. Sasuke looked at her. "Sorry" she said blushing. Sasuke smirked.

'_She still likes me'_

"When did you start dating Hyuga?" Sasuke asked if it was nothing. Sakura choked on her spit. "W-What?!" she stuttered like Hinata.

Back in the corner, Hinata and Naruto tried not to watch the two talking.

"There's obvious flirting going on" he said, walking closer to Sakura. Sakura's breathing went ragged. "Um, well, I…we" Sakura said clustered. Sasuke stepped back and smirked, making Sakura face his back. "You're still weak when it comes to men" he said smoothly.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I am not dating Neji-kun" she spoke. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Then who do you like?" he asked. Sakura paused for a minute and hatefully glared at Sasuke. He was surprised at the iciness that crossed her porcelain features. "That's none of your business" she said coldly. Naruto whistled softly while Hinata playfully punched him on the arm.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed "hn". He looked at his relaxing friend. "Dobe, lets go" he ordered. Naruto pouted "b-but, we just here!" he protested. Sasuke ignored him and made his way towards the wooden door. Naruto huffed "fine!" he whined. Kissing Hinata softly, Naruto put his hands in his pockets and picked up his ANBU mask from the coffee table.

He smiled and playfully nudged Sakura. She laughed quietly. Her purple eyes made their way to an impatient Sasuke. "Bye!" Naruto said. Hinata waved. Sakura opened the door for the two boys.

Hinata did not miss the evil look Sasuke and Sakura shared for a minute.

* * *

Rock Lee ran down the halls of Orochimaru's lair. 'Why aren't the following me?!' he thought franticly. Sound was dark and spooky. Lee swore he saw a mouse scurry out of a wall. The place gave him the creeps.

'_Well, this is _**Orochimaru**_ we're talking about here, what'd you expect, pink and pretty?'_

Wide-eyed Lee shuddered. Suddenly, a man popped out from the wall. He was large and muscular with dirty blue hair and piercing yellow eyes.

'_Ino would have said something like 'Oh my god, he's ugly!'_

Lee pumped a fist in the air. "YOSH!" "I will humbly defeat you as my worthy opponent!"

Running towards him faster than sound, Lee punched and kicked as fast as he could, targeting the man's pressure and vital points. Oddly, he couldn't get a hit!

'_He's fast…'_

Sweat rolled down his cheeks. Lee felt his suit stick towards him. His head was hurting too. He had just come back from an A-rank mission when an ANBU had called him saying that the Godaime needed to speak to him.

Lee's eyes widened as he felt his left arm being twisted back. _CRACK!_ Lee coughed. He collapsed to the ground, his arm painfully being twisted back. Unemotional, the man looked down at him.

"Stop this playing"

Lee felt his ears pop and throb.

'_Kuso!'_

Lee's arm now hung down his side. He jumped back, sending some kunai at his opponent. He easily dodged them but then saw an explosive note attached to one. Jumping out of the way, he sent a chakra-filled punch towards Lee. Lee ducked and moved his leg to kick him straight in the face. He watched as the man flew backwards. Staggering, Lee ran threw out the halls and could feel chakras approaching him. He pressed his fingers together.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

"Mizu bunshin no jutsu!"

Over one hundred shadow and water clones filled the dark, empty space. Effortlessly, Lee made a simple water jutsu from a pool of water one of his clones had left behind when they had disappeared. Big, blue waves swarmed up and then crashed down. Torches fell down as the flames were evaporated by the water. The water began to flood Orochimaru's layer.

Lee heard Kabuto yelling to Orochimaru. The water formed a large dragon. Its tongue darted out and spit out poison at the Sound Nin that came running in. Effortlessly, Lee threw a shuriken at a top glass window. It shattered, glass shards falling down and cutting the shinobi. It was raining water, blood, weapons, and glass. Wonderful.

Lee jumped threw the window and made one last hand seal. The dragon roared loudly and opened its mouth. Lee looked back to see shinobi drowning. Waves licked the walls. Soon the water began to rise. Forcing his feet to go faster, Lee ran threw the treetops and didn't look back as a giant tsunami broke the Sound.

'_I know Orochimaru is still alive, but maybe I lowered the amount of shinobi he will use when he attacks Konoha'_

'_With the Akatsuki's summon and Orochimaru's weird troops, Konoha will fall if something doesn't happen!'_

Lee whistled threw his teeth. It echoed threw out the large trees and shrubs. The sky was bright and Lee saw nothing but green and brown. He smiled in awe as he watched a mother and baby deer run in front of him. Ten black birds circled him in the sky. Lee saw one of them come down and perch itself on his back.

Quickly, Lee wrote something down on a rice-scroll and tied a green ribbon around it. He attached the note to the bird. It was black with a rounded beak. Its feathers looked silky. Two green eyes were wide-alert. "Miu, fly as fast as you can and get this to Godaime-sama!" Lee encouraged.

Squeaking and flapping its wings, Miu rose and flew it the sky towards Konoha.

Out of breath, Lee leaned against a tree. He felt as if his head was going to explode. Have you ever felt a large throbbing pain?

'_Lee-san!'_

'_Eh…I think we'd be better as friends' _

Lee smiled tiredly. He felt something cuddle in his hair. He stretched out his good arm to find something smooth.

A flower petal.

'_Lee-san!'_

* * *

Ah, the classic kiss and tell…

Past the point of no return…

The night passed so quick that Sakura thought she was still in the Akatsuki's base. She imagined Kisame's lour snoring and in the morning, Sasori and Deidara arguing about art and total nonsense. Purple eyes fluttered open as she heard running water. Hinata came out, toothbrush stuck in her mouth. "Neji-niisan says it's time to go and that we have to hurry"

Sakura nodded and rubbed her eyes. She glanced at her disheveled appearance in an oval-shaped mirror that was plastered to the cream-colored wall. "I'm gonna take these out, they're like, killing me!" Sakura announced. Hinata nodded as she pressed the radio. Awesome, loud, hip-hop music began to play. Sakura's hand made their way to her eyes. She took out her contacts and blinked.

Magically, she watched herself in the mirror as her irises turned from a light purple to a beautiful shade of green. She smirked and got out of bed.

They didn't eat breakfast. As soon as everyone was done, they met outside the Inn. Quickly, Hinata and Temari made their way around town to buy some food, water, and supplies. Konoha was about two days away but Sakura could bet her life on that they would get sidetracked sooner or later.

Soon the shinobi were making their ways through the treetops. Curiously, Naruto watched as he saw his aggravated best friend steal glances at the green-eyed Sakura. Oddly, he didn't say anything to object.

* * *

"She has the vial…" the Leader spoke dangerously. The Akatsuki members exchanged worried glances. Itachi's eyes looked coldly at him. "Yes" "But I will get it" The Leader snorted "we have hers and the Kyuubi's" "All we need is your moron of a brother's"

"Get it in a week or else I will kill you"

Itachi nodded "I plan on doing so" Itachi walked out of the darkened room. In the corner, Kisame coughed. He didn't want to be in any small spaces, not after the "sandwich attack".

Storming through the hallways, red eyes flashed furiously. How dare that weak kunoichi play him? Now she had the vial, and Konoha had a chance of winning. They needed her blood, for the Sandaime-sama's legendary summon.

He would lead the missing-nin's to Konoha. They would attack with force. A massacre, a war. Kill anyone who crossed their paths, elderly, shinobi, children, anyone! They all had to go. Then, with the summon, the Akatsuki would attack the other four large shinobi countries. No one stood a chance.

When they had Sakura's blood, they would be unconquerable.

* * *

Orochimaru choked on some water. Kabuto patted his back. They had managed to escape threw a window. Orochimaru was yelling in pain as branches and rocks scraped his lifeless arm. He was now vulnerable and out of chakra.

Kabuto's glasses flashed in the sunlight. "In the other parts of Sound, we still have people, correct?" Orochimaru asked. Kabuto nodded "yes Orochimaru-sama, not everyone has died" He licked his lips. "There is so much going on now, maybe too much to handle.

Kabuto paused and then went on "the summon, the three years, Akatsuki, Sakura, Sasuke-kun, Konoha, you!"

Orochimaru nodded "if the Akatsuki succeeds in summoning my sensei's old summon, then even the Sound will crumble"

Kabuto's eyes widened. The Sound falling? Orochimaru-sama saying that?!

How powerful was Sandaime's summon?

* * *

'**Admit it, you loved it'**

'**The kiss, you enjoyed it'**

Green eyes were downcast. Angry tears spilled from her eyes. She wasn't supposed to be feeling this! Sakura sniffled, ignoring the looks that her teammates were giving her. "Itachi" she whispered. She didn't care if Sasuke's head whipped up. She had fallen for him. Fallen for him…

She had fallen for Uchiha Itachi.

Sakura began to cry. Hinata worriedly sped towards her best friend. She patted her back. "S-Sakura?!" "What's wrong?" she asked urgently. Sakura sobbed and everyone could see her chakra stop. She sat on a branch. Everyone stopped and looked back. The wind was getting colder.

Sakura sniffled "I'm sorry" she whispered. Questioningly, Neji glanced at Naruto. Why wasn't he doing anything?

She stood up and began to pump chakra into her high-heels. "Let's go" she declared. Temari nodded "hai, we can make it to the border if we travel fast and then Konoha will be a piece of cake tomorrow" she said. Sakura nodded. Hinata managed to nod.

Sakura just broke down sobbing in front of everyone.

This was out of character.

Hinata's face saddened.

What was going on?

* * *

Itachi just packed some extra weapons, food, money, and clothes in a simple dark brown bag he could sling over his back. Kisame had finished packing and they were about to leave. Quickly, they ran threw the treetops at full speed. The sky was now dark black with stars casting everywhere. Shadows lurked from every corner. Kisame could hear animals scurrying around.

Red eyes flickered back and forth. Anger seethed threw Itachi. Beaten. By a weak, little kunoichi. He would get that vial and soon the Akatsuki would be the most powerful group in the five shinobi countries. Suddenly, Kisame watched in awe as red eyes slowly turned back to black orbs.

'_Do you really want to kill her?'_ a voice questioned in Itachi's head. Quicker than sound, Itachi shook it off and reactivated his Sharingan. Emotions were weak, anyone could be backstabbed, if you loved someone, then you were not strong. Sasuke was a living example. A smirk made it way to Itachi's face.

Kisame's eyebrows burrowed. "What's that?" he asked. A loud hissing noise made its way to the men's ears. "I've never seen a snake here before" Kisame commented, drawing his Sameheda. Quickly, Itachi reached for a kunai.

The hissing got louder as Itachi saw four shinobi drenched in water appear before them and kneel down on trees. He saw the emblem sketched on their metal headbands. Sound.

Wet, Kabuto appeared and stood up, smirking and pushing his glasses up, the moonlight reflecting off of them. Kisame snorted "what do you want?"

Itachi watched unemotional, as two yellow eyes became visible from the thick bushes. Orochimaru landed by Kabuto, soaked. Kisame looked at his lifeless arm hanging from his side, a rusty Akatsuki ring still on his finger.

"I've come to make a proposition" Orochimaru rasped.

* * *

_**-TSUZUKU-**_

_**Oh no, Sound plus Akatsuki equals bad trouble! This chapter was okay for me but I'll give you guys a spoiler. ItaSaku moments are definitely coming up! Also, a huge war is approaching. AND, some Hyuga Uchiha arguments. Wow. Well, please, please, PLEASE leave a review for me!**_

**_Peace ya'll,_**

_**-SHADOWSAKURA321 **_


	15. Chapter 15

Hey everyone! Well, good news. The last chapter is now in second place for the most reviews! Thanks to everyone who read but GREAT thanks to everyone who read AND reviewed. I was wondering if I ever mentioned this, but fan-art is always welcomed and will be greatly appreciated. Lotz of stuff r coming up ya'll!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'_ _Anata__ Wa'_

_ 'And You Are…?_

_ By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

He was a weasel and she was the flower.

Her life was full of tenderness while his was made of power and lies.

She saved lives out of compassion and he killed without any mercy.

He didn't believe in kind hearts but she believed in strong love.

He was a horrible omen.

She could only help but wonder how she had fallen in love with such a man.

Sakura smiled tiredly as she walked threw the two green gates of Konoha. Izumo and Kotestu waved to them and then disappeared to tell Tsunade that the team had arrived. Sakura's breathing was ragged. She was home. Konoha citizens had noticed a flurry of black hair in between the famous rookie nine. Sakura turned around and smiled. That's when everyone realized. When they stared into her beautiful green orbs, at last Haruno Sakura was home.

Cries of joy suddenly filled the air. Sakura coughed and managed to laugh quietly. "I'm so glad to be home" she whispered. Hinata patted her back soothingly.

"O-Oh my god!"

Sakura looked up. Tears rolled down her face. "Ino-pig!" High heels clacking, Ino ran into Sakura's arms and began to sob on her cotton vest. Sakura cold even feel her wet tears soak threw her red shirt.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Ino wailed.

Sakura nodded, at a loss of words. Two ANBU appeared from the dust and bowed down in respect. "Hokage-sama wants to see you immediately Sakura-sama, and she tells the other shinobi to just hold tight, clean up and begin to write your reports" one spoke seriously. Sakura noticed that a young ANBU girl knelt down by the other one. Instead of having her painted mask over her fair face, large black sunglasses covered her eyes.

Sakura nodded "I'll be right there" The ANBU nodded "hai!" Ino wiped tears from her face. Smudged, black eye-liner was under her weary crystalline sapphire eyes. Ino looked back and smiled "I'm so glad you guys are finally home!" she spoke. She went over and kissed Shikamaru softly.

Blue eyes flickered over to the Uchiha. "Sasuke" Ino spoke icily. Naruto winced at her tone. After Sasuke had left and Sakura and she had rekindled their friendship, Ino swore that she would never trust or forgive Sasuke for what he did to everyone-including Sakura.

"Hn" Sasuke said.

Ignoring the painkilling tension, Tenten clapped her hands eagerly. "Come on you guys, lets go clean up" she said, looking at the soot that covered her shoes, dried blood, torn clothes and burnt sleeves. Hinata chuckled softly.

"I'm going to eat ramen!" Naruto announced.

"So troublesome, I'm going to watch the clouds" Shikamaru said lazily. His hand traced Ino's cheeks and idly wiped a tear from her face.

Sakura inwardly awed. Even if Ino was tired and mad with smudged eye-liner, mascara, blush, and barely any lip gloss, Shikamaru thought she was beautiful. A soft smile sketched on Sakura's face. She looked like an idiot, standing there with a dreamy expression on her face in a torn ANBU outfit with two angry prodigies in the middle of her, glaring.

Still…

'_I want a man like that'_

* * *

Tsunade banged her head on her wooden desk. Shizune looked worriedly at her teacher. Stacks and stacks of paper were all on Tsunade's desk. Unraveled scrolls were in front of Tsunade, tens and tens of black calligraphy staring mockingly back at her.

Tsunade groaned, rummaging threw a pile of dark-colored files.

Important need for that, new missions that needed to be assigned, lots of bills that needed to be paid…

'_Why is there so much paperwork?'_ Tsunade thought bitter and tired.

Hazel eyes suddenly caught something. Confusion was all over the Godaime's face, small traces of fear leaking in. "Is something wrong Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, catching Tsunade's weird face. Tsunade nodded "yeah, did Lee ever send a message or a letter?" she asked. Shizune checked her clipboard and nodded.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama, Lee-san had a falcon named Miu with him and said he would send a message when he left Orochimaru's"

Tsunade frowned "that's weird" she stated.

Tsunade shakily held up a black piece of paper. "Because it says here that Lee is dead"

Shizune gasped. "What?!" she exclaimed. Flashes of the energetic, youthful ANBU sparked threw their minds. Shizune shook her head "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, but I have to say that this is fake"

"Lee is alive" she said confidently.

Tsunade nodded, glancing at all the papers around her. "That he is" she agreed. Shizune pulled up a stool and sat by Tsunade.

"You must not tell the elders about this or alert Jiraiya-sama" she said quietly.

For a brief second, a mixture of hate and grief flickered in Tsunade's almond, hazel eyes.

"The last thing I need for them to gossip about me doing something wrong or making something go bad"

"Again"

* * *

Sakura shut her eyes in pure relaxation as she shrugged off her tattered clothes. Her bathroom fan began to work as Sakura watched steam make its way onto the walls of the shower door. Quietly she stepped in and sighed as the nice hot water hit her skin.

She rubbed some lavender-scented soap on a scrub and put it over her cuts and bruises. It stung but felt good when they were all cleaned up and felt much better. She sighed and shut her tired green orbs as she felt the water brush her skin. Finally, some peace, quiet and tranquilly. Sakura leaned against the tile wall as the hot water hit her.

Her life was a puzzle. It was jumbled up in a puzzle case and somehow Sakura couldn't connect all the pieces.

**That poor girl is so confused.**

**Her old love is back but a new one is arising.**

**War is on the horizon and relationships are in the middle of tension.**

**Bonds will be broken and enemies will become allies.**

**Ever heard of the saying, 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer?'**

**And the little girl in whom the whole tale evolves around her is so confused and jumbled.**

**She cannot do this alone.**

**She wonders if she herself can even get through this.**

* * *

Blood thirsty yellow slits of eyes glared threw the pale moonlight and bushes. "You are after the vial, am I correct?" "Trying to resurrect my sensei's old summon, eh?" Orochimaru chuckled.

Itachi stepped up "what is your proposition?" he asked, monotone. "We will work together and destroy Konoha" Orochimaru replied darkly.

Kisame snorted "no way in hell, Itachi we don't need these stup-" Itachi stuck his hand out as a signal to stop.

"You will help us invade Konoha and get the vial?" he asked.

Kabuto stepped up and nodded "yes Itachi-kun, we might even bring back the Kyuubi for you" he added.

He looked at the tall Uchiha.

"Also, we could always get your brother and Tsunade's pink-haired assistant" he said.

Itachi looked at Kisame. "We will ask our Leader" he replied smoothly. Orochimaru licked his lips. "Konoha will fall soon"

Kisame looked confused "wait!"

"But, let's say we do work together, and then we will be enemies, considering that you want to take control of Konoha but we will have the Sandaime's legendary summon"

"That puts us only against each other once more"

"In the end we might end up killing each other and still Konoha would win" Kisame finished.

Strangely, Kisame **did** have a point there.

Itachi looked questioningly at the Sound ninja. "Well?" he asked. One young Sound jounin began to talk "you want to be the most powerful organization in the five countries, but leave Konoha to us"

"After the war, we will take control of Konoha and you could use the Third's beast to gain control and respect over the other four countries"

"If we need to talk to you again, you will be contacted"

"Also, if all of this works, you could attack the Sand first because they are allies of Konoha and ninja from there would have also been killed in the war"

"You could even get the Kazekage as well!" another ninja added. "And also Orochimaru-sama agrees to give the Akatsuki twenty percent of control and power in Konoha"

Kabuto looked at the two. He grinned. "Surely you cannot turn down a chance like this" he chided.

Orochimaru stood up, "I want your answer as soon as possible" he said in a raspy voice. "But first, we've got to learn how to trust and work together" he said again, stealing a glance at Kisame.

Kisame was tightly clutching his Sameheda. "How do we know that we can trust you?" he asked threw gritted teeth.

Orochimaru smirked. "You can't but you must because if you don't then the deal is off"

Kisame glared at him. "Orochimaru-sama, we must go now" Kabuto whispered. Orochimaru nodded as the ninjas began to disappear. Itachi heard his tone echo threw out the forest, "I'll be waiting"

The two Akatsuki members sat on the thin dark branches in utter silence for a moment, pondering on all the thoughts that were buzzing around them. A bush rustled. A wolf howled. The sky was dark.

Slowly, Itachi finally turned to his partner. His friend-maybe the only other one except….wait, why was he thinking about friendship and care? Emotions are total nonsense!

_Sakura…_

Shaking away the flowing crazy thoughts, Itachi looked at Kisame.

"Kisame" he stated. He watched as Kisame's hand fall from his sword. "What?"

"Turn back, we're going to the Leader to discuss" Itachi ordered.

* * *

Sakura felt refreshed. She felt clean. She finally felt nice!

Sakura changed into a comfortable baby blue tee-shirt and some jeans. Her washed ANBU vest and badge which was on a black cord was laid on her couch. Quickly she zipped up her vest and slung her golden badge over her. She tucked the vial under her shirt.

Her pink locks weren't combed and gave her the 'wet look'. She ran out of her apartment and poofed to Tsunade's office.

"SAKURA!" Tsunade screamed happily. Sakura walked threw the door and smiled. The woman ran up and hugged her student tightly. In the corner, Shizune laughed as she watched Sakura's face literally turn a shade of purple. "Good to see you too sensei!" Sakura managed to say. Tsunade let go of her and smiled, tears clouded in her hazel eyes.

"It's such a relief to you again!" Tsunade said. Sakura grinned cheekily "I'm so glad to finally be home!" she exclaimed, exasperated, plopping down on a stool. Ton-ton jumped out of Shizune's arms and scurried into Sakura's lap. She giggled "what's happening Ton-ton?!" she asked, laughing.

Tsunade opened a new bottle of sake. "Celebration!" she said, her tone slurred already. Shizune's eyes widened "no, Tsunade-sama!" Huffing, Tsunade laced her red-painted fingernails together. "You do not need to write a report, just tell me right now, was the mission successful?"

Sakura nodded "yes, as you know the Akatsuki wants to resurrect the Sandaime's summon"

"But, I have something that they would need" she said softly, pulling out the vial on the necklace. Tsunade gasped "whose blood is that?" she asked. Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat "Sasuke's" she replied.

Tsunade looked at Shizune "Shizune!" "Make sure Sakura is heavily guarded!" she ordered.

Shizune nodded.

"TSUNADE-BAACHAN!" Sakura's head whipped around as Naruto burst threw the doors. Sweat rolled down his cheeks as his dirty blonde hair was over his eyes. Sakura's jaw dropped. "Brat!" Tsunade hissed, aiming the full bottle of sake at him.

"You are being rude, no one invited you in here!" she yelled.

Naruto ignored her screaming. "Baachan, seriously, Neji has spotted some Sound ninjas!"

* * *

_TsUzUkU_

_Trouble….! I have to admit that I made a mistake on the last chapter, instead of saying that the Akatsuki needed Sasuke's blood in the vial, I wrote Sakura's. The Akatsuki needs Sasuke's blood. Anyways, hope ya'll liked and please leave a review!_

_Until next time minna-chan!_

_Shadowsakura321 P.S Oh, sorry for the short chapter! _


	16. Chapter 16

I'M SO SORRY! I'VE BEEN SO BUSY! The year is ending, tests, projects, my cousin's wedding, my concert, my play…so much to do so little time! I've had such a HUGE writer's block. I thank everyone for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter of Anata Wa ya'll! I went through a lot and I feel like I need to get writing again! I'm sorry if this chapter is short though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

'_Anata Wa…?'_

'_And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Run.

_Faster, faster!_ Sakura encouraged herself. The sun beat down on her back, and her mouth craved for cool water. '_Neji-kun said that the ninjas were waiting for someone and that they would be here in another four hours'_ This was stupid, going out here alone in her weakened state but she had to find out what was going to happen. _'The Akatsuki only needs Sasuke-kun's blood now'_ A small hand reached up and clutched the vial under her shirt.

'_Why this blood, why can't they just hurt Sasuke-kun and get more?'_

Sakura mentally groaned. Another question to answer.

'**And such little time, right?'**

'…_.not you, not now'_

'**Relax!' 'I come in peace'**

Sakura sped up, trees and shrubs flying behind her. A kunai was in her hand. Gradually later she came to a clearing. Beams of sun light was shining threw the trees. Sakura stared in awe as a little dear ran past her. Sweet smelling flowers were by the trees. "This is the place" she said out-loud. Sakura knew that the ninjas were only up a mile or so.

She knew that they could sense her.

Quickly, she got down to her knees and bit her thumb. Her fingers moved at a tremendous speed. "Kuchiyose no justu!" The earth began to shake as a giant slug appeared, raising her head to breath in fresh air. "Sakura!" she said gleefully. Her smile faded "this must be bad because you don't usually summon me"

Sakura's right eye twitched as she managed to smile. "Katsuyu, I will spy on the ninjas while you head back to Konoha" She flew up on her summon and clipped a small piece of metal to her ear. "My words from my radio transmitter will immediately contact your metal"

Katsuyu nodded "of course Sakura" Sakura pressed her fingers together. "Inner Sakura: Release!" An exact replica of Sakura appeared on Katsuyu's back.

"I can't put a clone on you because then they'll notice"

"But me and Inner Sakura share the exact same physical features as well as the same DNA"

Sakura looked at Katsuyu "go!" she ordered.

The two began to run threw the forest. Meanwhile, Sakura cautiously made her way threw the thicket of trees. She gripped a kunai tightly. Two men ninjas were perched up from the trees. Jade eyes flashed dangerously.

_'Itachi, you're really working with these people?'_

Sakura controlled her chakra so she couldn't be heard. Quietly, she crept up, kunai ready to cut. The man never saw it coming. "Pity that the last thing you'll see is just trees" Sakura said softly. The man's eyes widened as one hand covered his mouth and the other wrapped around his neck. Sakura sliced his neck, red blood slitting across his skin. The other ninja, hearing the little, quiet noise opened his mouth to scream but Sakura was fast.

Faster.

Faster then the sound.

Something good coming out from training alone Lee.

Sakura pointed a knife carelessly and sliced his jugular vein. No one could notice the small pang of sadness and regret cross her face. She had to do what had to be done.

Kabuto was busily talking to Orochimaru. You could see the impatient look on the snake master's face. His yellow eyes were burning with an intent to kill.

"Orochimaru-sama, when is the Akatsuki going to come and answer?!"

"We do not have all day and all night to ready our plans and attacks" "Why, Konoha probably knows that we are planning to attack!" a young, stubborn sound kunoichi demanded furiously. Kabuto's face twisted angrily.

"Saki, shut up and do not talk to Orochimaru-sama like that" he said threateningly. Saki's eyes glared at him, a kunai in between her fingers. She leaned against the bark of a tree. Suddenly, the leaves blocking the hot sun began to rattle. Two blurred figures fell down from the canopy treetops. Kabuto's eyes widened as red blood fell quickly to the ground, quickly splattering on the ground and on the ninjas.

He dared not to look Orochimaru directly in the eye but snuck a quick eye on him. Orochimaru's face was raging, one hand curled up in a fist. Saki looked up and cursed, her bright eyes turning into disgusted fear.

Two dead bodies with bent and slashed necks fell directly onto her lap, falling threw the trees and landed on her. Their faces were pale and blood pooled around their lifeless bodies. Dead faces stared back at the young sound girl. Crimson droplets stained her metal headband.

Kabuto shut his eyes and groaned.

A scream echoed threw out the forest.

Sakura pressed herself against a tree and sighed.

'**Looks like we can't head back now'**

* * *

"We can't help them, yeah!" Deidara yelled, knocking over a chair as he stood up. The Leader glared at him. Sasori nodded "I agree, they cannot be trusted" Itachi shook his head "this is out chance, to conquer Konoha and soon the other countries"

"We can always go back and kill the Sound, who is to say that we are perfectly trustworthy?"

Kisame snorted "I like the way you think, Itachi" he said.

The Leader's eyes were downcast. He was really thinking.

Deidara glared at Itachi. He wanted to throw a clay bomb at the stupid prodigy.

He was always the one being listened to.

After all, he was a ruthless killer and prodigy.

S.

Sakura.

"_Sakura-chan, yeah!"_

Deidara missed her. But as soon as the tiny, defenseless kunoichi had first come into the base, he had read the warning signs and flashing colors. Sakura or Yume was his. And when they had found out that Yume was the legendary Haruno Sakura, things had begun to heat up. Deidara didn't even know how Itachi would react when he would see the pink-haired girl again.

All he knew was that he was staying out of the way.

Maybe.

* * *

Uchiha.

Hyuga.

Morons.

Ino wanted to kill someone. Blue eyes flashed dangerously between the two arguing prodigies. "How about this?" Ino said. She grabbed the map of Konoha from the table in the ANBU headquarters and explained a plan. Sasuke and Neji exchanged glances. "That…works" Neji said.

Sasuke smirked. "We're gonna do Yamanaka's plan, and now we all can go, finally"

Shikamaru lifted his head from sleeping on the wooden table "hallelujah" he murmured.

Everyone quickly exited the room. Neji looked at his watch. Soon. Soon, the war was about to begin. Neji looked at Sasuke and nodded. The Uchiha prodigy disappeared to evacuate the schools. Using his byakugan, Neji scanned Konoha and watched threw his milky eyes shop owners closing up. Families quickly were being ushered inside their homes. ANBU covered the whole area. Neji watched Mrs. Yamanaka close up the store and poof into Tsunade's office where all the other ninja that weren't watching were meeting.

As a matter of fact, he should be going in a couple of minutes.

'Lemme just check on the Sound ninjas to see if they had made any further progress' he thought.

His eyes made their way threw miles of endless forest until reaching them resting and waiting. His eyebrows burrowed. Something was wrong.

Some kunoichi had leapt up and was screaming hysterically. Neji looked in closer and saw that she was covered in fresh blood.

'…_what the hell?'_

Neji's eyes saw a man, Kabuto jump up to try to calm her down. He was also covered in specks of blood. They all were, including the furious Orochimaru.

Then Neji saw it, two pale dead bodies, necks slit, tons of blood on a log. Their eyes were cold, lifeless and _open._

Neji watched with curiosity. Naturally, his eyes traveled around the clearing where the sound was stationed. Nothing.

Well, nothing unusual.

Neji sighed, probably just a kunai that missed its target and hit the ninja.

Just as Neji was about to switch off his byakugan, he saw it.

A flash of pink.

A terrified flash of _pink._

Neji cleared his vision and saw the outline of Sakura, huddled by a tree, scared. So she was the culprit, does anyone know that she was even out there?

Then it all hit like him like a boulder crushing him.

Where was Naruto?

* * *

Zetsu appeared threw the walls. "Things are not well, the Sound needs their answer now" he said lowly.

Everyone exchanged glances. Deidara bit his lips. No, no, no.

The Answer. Is Needed. Now.

"Go" "Tell" "Now" The Leader finally spoke in the dark room.

Deidara hung his head low. No. No.

Sasori dropped his puppet. Deidara opened his mouth to protest but the Leader was already gone. "Lets go" Itachi said coldly to Kisame. He nodded and they disappeared into a blurry of gray smoke.

Sasori snuck a glance at Deidara. He shut his eyes and sighed. His clay was on the table. Deidara looked out the window.

Sakura-chan.

'_Sakura, I didn't want this'_ he thought finally before exiting the room. Sasori watched his partner sadly leave. Anger flooded his mind.

'_Now we're even turning on each other'_

Oddly, then a picture of Chiyo flashed threw Sasori's mind.

If you looked closely, you could see a very small piece of sadness sketch on his face.

'_How much more bad can we get?'_

Sasori forced the pictures of Itachi and Sakura out of his mind.

* * *

Saki screamed so loud that Kabuto actually thought that she had disrupted his ears. Well how would you feel if two of your young but evil friends fell from the trees, necks slit, eyes open with blood all over them into your lap?

The poor girl looked as if she was going to faint. Her eyes were wide with fear.

'_Guess this my cue'_ Kabuto thought as he jumped up and tried to cradle the screaming girl.

An older, kunoichi sleek in black looked at the two with piercing eyes. She looked like a captain and a queen mixed in one. She was sitting, legs crossed on a log. Her eyes traveled to Orochimaru who was watching with amusement at Saki. "She's only sixteen" she whispered.

The Sound was no castle. Young or old, you get drilled and you feel as if you are in hell. The older woman shivered in fear, thinking about the kind of things Saki had been through. The two boys who had fallen, were named Dai and Chairo. Orochimaru might even not have noticed but Chairo and Saki were siblings and Dai was her boyfriend.

The woman smiled, remembering the times when the two youngsters had always said that they would run away and get married.

Now Saki had lost everything.

The woman turned around, her chestnut hair blowing in the wind. "Haruno Sakura, look what you've done, you're not the only one to lose everything" she whispered.

Sakura gasped. She knows that she's there. How come she hasn't told Orochimaru? Sakura then realized that Orochimaru was **very **low on chakra.

Technically it was impossible for him as a shinobi to even stand.

But this **was Orochimaru** we were talking about.

Sakura looked back at the young girl. She had finally calmed down though her face was white as chalk and her bright purple eyes were wide and frightened. She took a seat by Kabuto but just stared at the two corpses.

Sakura's breath staggered. The bloody kunai was still in her hands.

Jade eyes were forced to look at Saki's face.

She's Sound…but she's still human. She's now lost the most important people in her life and she's young living in the Sound.

"What have I done?" Sakura whispered.

Tears formed in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry…Haruno Saki"

* * *

_Tsuzuku._

_Wow. Did I write that? INTERESTING DETAILS ARE COMING UP! Please read and review, I'm back on track!!_

_-Shadowsakura321_

**-SPECIAL PREVIEW-**

**Tsunade sat down, looking at all the terrified shinobi. She laced her hands together, her bright red nails shining in the sun. "This war is causing emotional stress on all of us, but we have to be strong" "We have to defeat the Sound once and for all" **

**Suddenly, Neji burst into the room. The door nearly flew off its hinges. Neji's byakugan was still on and sweat rolled down his forehead. Hinata's head arched back. "Neji-niisan!" she gasped. The room became silent. Tsunade looked alarmingly at the panting ninja.**

"**How troublesome" Shikamaru said, noticing the look on Neji's face. "This looks bad" Ino rolled her eyes and looked annoyed at her boyfriend.**

"**Thank you Shikamaru-kun" "Congratulations on suggesting the obvious"**


	17. Chapter 17

Hey u all! Please when you review….review! I love hearing from ya'll but all I'm getting is questions or a 'yay update!' review. Please complement my actually story and if you wanna question just P.M me! Please leave a nice review!! Thanks to everyone who took the time and putting up with a dumb writer like me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics _

**Bold-Inner Sakura **

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'_ _Anata_ _Wa__…?'_

_ 'And You Are…?'_

_ By: Shadowsakura321_

_

* * *

_

'_There's so much that you don't know about me'_

On that day when Sakura's famous shinobi parents were murdered, a little pink-haired ten-year-old Sakura found twelve-year-old Saki Haruno covered in blood, crying on the stairs. When Saki was thirteen she left Konoha and never made any contact with no one. Tsunade had presumed her officially dead about two and a half years ago.

'_Maybe that's why I was so heartbroken and scared when Orochimaru came into the picture and Sasuke-kun left'_

'_Chaiiro-niisan, I am so sorry'_ Tears rolled down Sakura's cheeks. Quickly, her pale hands wiped away the tears streaking down her powdered face.

Sakura hiccupped. Kabuto's head shot up. A weakened Orochimaru looked over at the miles of green trees and plants. "Who's there?" he asked in a raspy whisper. Sakura's eyes widened as she planted her hand over her mouth. The woman didn't say anything or didn't even look back. She didn't dare to look up and meet Orochimaru-sama's piercing eyes.

Haruno Saki and Haruno Sakura were almost like sisters. In some cases, they could even pose like twins. They had the same creamy translucent skin, the same silky straight pink hair and the same hooded green eyes.

The older woman coughed "I think you might be mistaken Orochimaru-sama, no one seems to be there" Orochimaru's eyes reluctantly left the trees. The older woman bit her lip and looked at Saki. Her jaded piercing eyes were wide and her face looked like it was all drained of her blood. Her fists were tightly clutched together and she was breathing softly.

Kabuto looked up and saw two hooded figures leap down from the trees. He smirked.

Orochimaru licked his lips. "Finally, you have arrived" he spoke.

Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan stared at the Sound. Kisame's eyes darted from the two dead corpses to the stoic, scared looking girl. Her hair was dyed black but in her scalp, you could see specks of….pink??

As soon as Itachi landed on the soft earth, he could feel it. Or, being more specific, feel her.

Her.

She is here. How come Orochimaru hasn't noticed? _'I guess I'd better not say anything unless it is necessary'_ he thought. The darkened commas began to spin. Was he…worried about her?

Itachi had been thinking of her. And how she acted around his fool of his brother. If only she acted like that with him.

Itachi blinked. "Our Leader has accepted your requests" Orochimaru nodded and looked at Kabuto.

"Bring in the troops"

Kabuto nodded and looked at the woman sitting on the bloodied log. "It's time for the attack" he said.

Sakura overheard the conversation being told. "Their coming" she whispered under her breath. She pressed a finger near the radio. "Katsuyu, can you hear me?"

"Hai, Sakura-sama" "We are just on our way into Konoha" Sakura nodded, stealing a glance at the tall Uchiha prodigy.

"Okay, Katsuyu, wait in the clearing for me, war is soon on us"

"Inner Sakura, go tell Tsunade-shisou"

"**Hai, yeah, yah sure" **

* * *

Tsunade sat down, looking at all the terrified shinobi. She laced her hands together, her bright red nails shining in the sun. "This war is causing emotional stress on all of us, but we have to be strong" "We have to defeat the Sound once and for all"

Suddenly, Neji burst into the room. The door nearly flew off its hinges. It squeaked loudly and then forcibly slammed shut. Neji's byakugan was still on and sweat rolled down his forehead. Hinata's head arched back, eyes wide. "Neji-niisan!" she gasped. The room became silent. Tsunade looked alarmingly at the panting ninja.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru said, noticing the look on Neji's face. "This looks bad" Ino rolled her eyes and looked annoyed at her boyfriend.

"Thank you Shikamaru-kun" "Congratulations on suggesting the obvious"

"What it is Hyuga?" Sasuke snapped angrily.

"Sakura is spying on the Sound, two people are already dead and Orochimaru looks pissed, we can expect that they will attack anytime" he said.

Tsunade cursed as Ino stood up, a map unrolling in her manicured hands. "Okay, everyone, stick to the plan!" she ordered. ANBU and jounin began to walk out quickly.

Lastly, Ino and Shikamaru laced hands and quietly exited the room, Ino shutting the broken door behind the couple.

Kakashi stood up and tucked his Icha Icha book away safely and turned to Neji. "What is Sakura doing out there by herself?" his once cheerful voice sounding raspy and angry. His only visible eye was hardened.

Neji shrugged but his face clearly showed him worried "I think she went out by herself to investigate"

"And why didn't _**you**_ do anything, Hyuga?" Sasuke asked coldly.

Neji slowly turned to Sasuke. "Because, I had to report it, in a time like this, we don't need_ two_ of our _best _shinobi going missing"

White eyes curiously turned to the Hokage. She reached for a bottle of sake and took a big swing. Sasuke noticed the twinkle in Neji's eyes and didn't like it one bit.

"If you mind me asking Tsunade-sama, have you even thought of a punishment for Uchiha?" he asked. Neji watched with amusement as Sasuke's eyes turned to a deadly red. "I personally think that he should be put under house arrest for a year, with no missions" Neji said icily. Sasuke growled under his breath and walked towards Neji. "Son of a…." Sasuke snarled.

In the middle, Kakashi's only visible eye flickered between the two. "Guys…" he said, unsteady. Tsunade coughed, breaking the awkward silence.

"We have no time for punishments since war is here and Sasuke's abilities will greatly come in handy" Sasuke smirked.

Tsunade's hazel eyes bore into Sasuke's. "But, you did betray our village and broke my assistant's heart so don't think that I will not let you off so easily after the war" Neji looked smugly at Sasuke.

Neji sensed a faint chakra coming their way in a hurry. The wooden door gave a barely audible squeak as it opened. A tired Naruto walked in, cuts on his arms, bleeding. Sasuke looked at him. "Dobe, what happened to you?" he asked. Naruto managed to smile without coughing up blood. "Why do you care teme?" he shot back.

"Inner Sakura-chan is coming" he said quietly. "This means no good" Kakashi chimed in. "Sakura is only supposed to let her inner self out when there is an emergency" Kakashi stated.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO SAKURA-CHAN?!" Naruto yelled, blood dripping from his mouth.

Neji looked at him in disgust. Naruto coughed and pointed a finger accusingly at Sasuke. "Teme, what did you do to Sakura-chan this time?"

Tsunade sighed and massaged her temples. "So…much…drama" she murmured.

Just then, Inner Sakura walked in. You could tell it was her because she looked faintly holographic. If you stared at her for a long time, it looked like she was slowly fading. Inner Sakura could only be only of Sakura's body for a maximum of about two hours.

If she exceeds the limit any time, she will vanish and the real Sakura would be knocked unconisuess because all of her chakra will be gone. Her chakra might take hours or even days to fully regenerate.

* * *

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, GET INTO PLACES!!!!" Ino screamed. Shikamaru nearly fell down next to his girlfriend. "Woman, are you trying to pierce my ears?!" he yelled. "SHUT UP YOU LAZY ASS!" Ino screamed.

"So troublesome…"

Tenten laughed from under her eagle ANBU mask. "Guys, no time for love battles, we've got to get moving" she said. Ino nodded and put her leopard mask on. She took out her sharpened katana and dragged her troubled boyfriend to their places in the trees where they would attack from above.

Shikamaru and Ino along with some other jounin were in the trees for an ambush. Then, by the gates were ANBU along with Gai and Kakashi. Everyone else covered a certain area of forest. The hospital was wide open where Shizune was there and had set up a very powerful barrier. With her skillful genjutsu moves, Kurenai was in the middle of the main forest with Asuma, Genma and others.

Bugs began to swarm around Shino. His dark glasses shone in the hot sun. "They are coming" he whispered. Tenten sighed, scroll in hand, her feet planted into the ground. "Okay, people, lets do this" she murmured.

* * *

NOW.

She didn't care if they saw or heard her. She had to get out of there fast. Her people needed her. Sasuke needed her. The war was going to happen and Sakura was going to be needed a lot. Imagine what would happen to the injured ninjas if the great Sakura wasn't there. Sakura managed to smile as she lunged forward, excitement and fear circling inside her.

Itachi's head whipped up as Sakura jumped out from the trees, sending an array of shuriken, kunai and small bombs at the ninjas. Black smoke began to fill the air as Sakura ran as fast as her could, doubling her speed about every ten minutes.

"Go after her!" Kabuto yelled, kneeling down to pick up Orochimaru. He groaned as two kunai hit him right above his knees. Itachi and Kisame exchanged glances. Saki looked amazed and yet confused. She stood up. "Was that…?" she started. Kisame looked back at her "do you know her?" he asked.

Saki nodded, tears in her eyes. "She's my cousin" she stated. Itachi noticed the immediate change in her aura and chakra level. It began to drop dramatically. Saki plopped down on the log. Kisame shuddered. Her eyes were pale, wide and dead. Tears were filled in them and streaked slowly down her white face.

"I couldn't stop her parents' murder" she whispered very quietly.

Kisame could then feel the instant drop in Itachi's chakra as well.

'_Heartbreaker you've got the best of me  
But I just keep on comin' back incessantly  
Oh why did you have to run your game on me  
I should have known right from the start  
You'd go and break my heart'_

* * *

"Sakura-sama, are you alright?!" Katsuyu asked, yelling. Sakura nodded and plopped down on her slug. "Inner Sakura has informed the Godaime" she stated. Sakura nodded and tied her hair behind her ears. Her sleek cat mask was placed on and her piercing green eyes looked like a cat ready for the kill. "Thank you" Sakura whispered. Katsuyu nodded.

The slug vanished, waiting for its master to summon it when needed.

Sakura fell onto the soft leaves on the forest floor. Pressing her fingers together, she quickly poofed into Tsunade's office, feeling a little sting as Inner Sakura entered her mind again.

* * *

"Shikamaru"

Silence.

"Shikamaru!"

More silence.

"Boy, you can see the Sound, get up from your ass and be ready to fight!" Ino yelled through the trees.

Across from her, sat Shikamaru on a branch in a tired position. He quickly awoke to some troublesome voice yelling at him. His eyes flashed to his girlfriend. "What?" he asked in a raspy whisper. He watched her blue eyes widen and she pointed a manicured fingernail to the clearing. "Their here" she whispered.

Shikamaru hesitantly looked over at the crowd. Ninjas and ninjas walked in to Konoha, being led by Kabuto.

Three. Two. One.

Ino shut her eyes as she flew down from the trees, attacking and cornering Sound ninjas. Naruto appeared by her, all patched up, summoning clones that quickly finished up a group of chuunin Sound ninjas. Jounin and ANBU swarmed around the deadly Sound ninjas. Ino watched with horror as some already began to activate their cursed seals.

Her body shivered and she screamed as she was violently was thrown against a tree. She kicked the shinobi in the groin while Naruto wrapped a black cord around his neck. Ino watched disgusted as the body fell on the leaves.

Sasuke and Neji ran out of the Hokage's office, kunai's in hands. They quickly teleported to a part of the forest where Shino, Kiba, and Tenten were. "Starting the party without us?" Sasuke asked, smirking. Akamaru viciously bit a Sound shinobi hard in the junction between his neck and shoulder. Eyes widened, he slumped on the ground.

"Having fun?" Kiba asked, kicking a shinobi in the gut. A long gash was across his left arm. Neji spun around "Hakkesho Kaiten!" he screamed, leaves and branches swirling with him.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What are you doing standing there, fight!" Neji yelled. Sasuke watched as Itachi appeared by Naruto. He disappeared, his Sharingan blazing.

* * *

"BASTARD!" Naruto screamed, aimlessly swinging his fist at the smirking Itachi. Tauntingly, Itachi vanished. Corpses of dead shinobi lay by their feet. The other Konoha ninjas had left as soon as Itachi had arrived. "Did you hurt her?" he yelled. Black commas spin "I did no such thing" he stated coolly.

Itachi watched as bright blue eyes turned red. Whiskers darkened by his face as a reddish chakra began to engulf him. "Where is Sakura-chan?" he asked darkly. Itachi smirk widened. "Somewhere" he replied tauntingly. Sasuke appeared in between them. All boys looked like they were in an epic movie, all strikingly handsome and over six feet in height.

He opened his mouth but no words came out. For once in facing his brother, he was silent.

"I'm fine" a cold voice said.

Their heads' whipped around to find Sakura, kunai in hand, feet planted down, eyes shining.

Her gaze turned to Itachi.

"We've got business to take care of"

* * *

The place was bloody hell. ANBU and ninjas were just popping up and being carried into the hospital. Screams echoed threw out the air as bloody corpses lined the once cheerful streets. Lights were broken, stores were wrecked and fire was quickly spreading. Both parties were tired and sweating but would not accept defeat.

Ino thrust a kunai at her female opponent. Oddly, the girl didn't move and Ino watched horrified as the kunai just pierced her skin. Blood trailed down her skin. The girl looked up and Ino stared into dead green eyes.

"I come to help" she whispered. She smiled weakly at Ino. "You've grown Ino-chan" she whispered. Ino gaped at the girl. Her breath hitched. "S-Saki?!" she whispered under her breath. The girl nodded and vanished, appearing closer to Ino.

"I know their secrets, I can help, I will help" Saki said quietly.

* * *

_**Tsuzuku.**_

_**Betrayal, love/lust and a bunch of action is coming up. Please review, they will make me feel so much better!**_

_**Peace out.**_

_**Shadowsakura321**_


	18. Chapter 18

Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews everyone! I am so happy that new peeps reviewed. –Passes out cookies- I would like to thank **GirlofShadow, Jester08, Flynnfriend, Tuki, Ita-ta, BlackElement7, piyo-no-kizu, Sakura0890, Crazy Neko Girl, moons requim, haruno sakua, Sharingan.Wonder.Girl., TheDevilsAngel93, LilBitzer, fujifangirl101, Tari Shiro, StfuSPARKS, SpeedDemon315, Ur-Bloody-Valentine, and my awesome big sis Ethereal Infernia. If you reviewed after this chapter was posted, sorry I couldn't write your name but thanks a lot! **

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'Anata Wa…?'_

_'And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

_I'm not the type to get my heart broken  
I'm not the type to get upset and cry  
Coz I never leave my heart open  
Never hurts me to say goodbye  
Relationships don't get deep to me  
Never get the whole in love thing  
If someone could say love me truly  
But at the time it didn't mean a thing  
_

"Leave"

Her voice was crisp and cool. Yet it was deadly of an assassin. Naruto looked at his teammate. "Sakura-chan…" he started. Jade eyes piercingly stared into blood red ones. "Leave Naruto-kun" she said softly. Naruto glanced at Sasuke. Seething, his commas were spinning and his fists were clenched. His shirt was bloody.

_My mind is gone  
I'm spinnin' around  
And deep inside  
My tears I'll drown  
I'm losing grip  
What's happening?  
I stray from love  
This is how I feel_

He looked at her angrily. "You won't last a minute with-" She cut him off abruptly. "I won't last a minute with someone strong Sasuke?!"

She took a step forward to the trio, her eyes blazing furiously. Naruto swore he felt the ground shake. She looked like a broken doll. She lowered her kunai as she forced the tears to stop. Her voice quavered.

"I can protect myself, when you left me crippled, I fought on, and I admit it was tough but I did it"

_This time was different  
Felt like I was just a victim  
And they cut me like a knife  
When you walked out of my life  
Now I'm in this condition  
And I've got all the symptoms  
Of a girl with a broken heart  
But no matter what you'll never see me cry_

"I am strong; I had to be…after all you left me Sasuke-_san"_

"NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed.

Sasuke opened his mouth again but Naruto grabbed his wrist and poofed out of there.

The ground shook furiously as Sakura slowly advanced towards Itachi.

_Did it happen when we first kissed?  
coz its hurting me to let it go  
maybe coz we spent so much time  
and I know that it's no more  
I should have never let u hold me baby  
Maybe why I'm so sad to see us apart  
I didn't give it to u on purpose  
Gotta figure out how u stole my heart  
_

He wasn't the one to be intimidated and he refused to show fear. He stood his ground and watched her walk to him. Part of him wanted to see what would happen next, part of him wanted to kiss her right there and then.

_My mind is gone  
I'm spinnin' around  
And deep inside  
My tears I'll drown  
I'm losing grip  
What's happening?  
I stray from love  
This is how I feel_

* * *

Ino narrowed her eyes. Reaching for a kunai, she pressed the tip against Saki's black vest. "What do you mean you can help?" she asked. Saki swallowed a lump in her throat. "Please put the knife away Ino-san" she said quietly. Ino's eyes were scary and angry mixed into one. "How will you help?" she replied darkly, pressing the tip closer.

Saki wrung her hands together. Her chin quivered as it bobbed up. Her lips were pinched together. Taking in a deep breath, she gulped. "I know Kabuto-sama and Orochimaru-sama's secrets" "I know where Orochimaru is hiding until the final big strike"

Her eyes were downcast and stared at the leaves and ground. It was stained with blood. Ino straightened up, her body tense. The metal of the kunai gleamed in the hot sun. "Your people took leaf shinobis' lives today" Ino said shakily.

Her eyes hardened. "You deserted Sakura years ago" "Do you know what things she went through?"

Saki nodded. "I know about Uchiha Sasuke" she said.

Ino's eyes were enraged.

"No you don't"

* * *

Sakura disappeared, kunai in hand. Itachi felt the tip of metal against his neck.

"You bastard" "How dare you work with slime balls like Orochimaru and his little crew?!" Sakura demanded angrily. Itachi snorted and his Sharingan shone with amusement. "Why do care kunoichi?" he replied back huskily.

'**Oh my god, his tone….'**

'_Shut up, I'm trying to look intimidating'_

'**Well, sorry but you flunked that test' **

Ignoring her shouting senses, with a flick of her pale wrist, she threw the sharpened kunai at the Uchiha prodigy. She watched him catch it easily between his fingers. Sakura raised her fist and smashed it on the earth. Rock, dirt, soil, and leaves flew up in the air. Itachi ran up to a large boulder, aiming a fireball at Sakura.

'_I will not be betrayed, not again, how could he work with Orochimaru?!' _

Sakura pounded chakra into her soles of her sandals and jumped up on the giant boulder, smashing it into pieces. Itachi quickly vanished before it crumpled into pieces. "Going down this road again kunoichi?" he asked tauntingly. Sakura's eyes were on fire. "Tsk tsk" he said, clicking his tongue.

_This time was different  
Felt like I was just a victim  
And they cut me like a knife  
When you walked out of my life  
Now I'm in this condition  
And I've got all the symptoms  
Of a girl with a broken heart  
But no matter what you'll never see me cry  
_

"Bastard, you're a coward, you just run and talk" she stated. Itachi glared at her.

She put a hand on her hip and squinted her jade orbs. She smirked "I bet Sasuke-" She was roughly cut off as Itachi pinned her against a tree. Her eyes wide were and were staring into his red orbs. Their bodies were tightly packed together. Then suddenly, Itachi crushed his mouth against hers. Sakura's eyes widened and she squirmed under him….which made things more uncomfortable.

'**JUST DO IT, ignore everything and just…do it!'**

'………'

'**Sakura?'**

Thoughts gone, Sakura snaked her arms up to his neck and head. She ran her hands through his silky hair. Suddenly, she felt something. Her ears perked as she heard a little _click! _She felt Itachi leave her with a lick on her lips. She felt the passion explode from her.

Grabbing a kunai, she tried to sense his chakra but he was gone. Sakura looked down and her eyes widened.

The vial was gone.

'_He used me!' _

* * *

The once beautiful Konoha was scattered with bloody corpses. ANBU ninjas were fighting furiously, sweat pouring down. The sun beating hot and the sand recruits had just got here. Gaara ran into Konoha, his sand speeding out in different directions, choking sound ninjas and making them fall. Of course, the Sound was not stupid. Tons of Konoha ninjas were dead in some of the most gruesome ways possible.

Ino lowered her kunai "where is Orochimaru hiding??" she whispered. Saki licked her lips "he is in a far cave in the forest with the Akatsuki Leader and pretty soon Uchiha Itachi….they are going to resurrect the Third's legendary summon"

Ino's breath staggered and quickly reached for her radio. Tsunade's voice came from the under hand. From the beeping and screaming, you could tell she was in the hospital. Ino took a deep breath. "Hokage-sama, we have another problem"

_How did I get here with you?  
I'll never know  
I never meant to let it get so personal  
And after all I tried to do  
To stay away from love with you  
I'm broken-hearted  
I can't let you know  
And I Won't Let It Show  
You won't see me cry_

"SHIT!"

There was a lot of explaining to do and we were in the middle of a horrendous war.

Sakura easily sliced a ninja's neck, her mind still on Itachi. She watched as Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji sneak out of the battlefield, leaving Kiba and Hinata to finish off the remainder of strong ninjas. She saw the angry in Sasuke's eyes.

Sakura paled. _'Did they find out?!'_ she thought frantically, her heart thumping in her chest fast.

Sakura's stomach sank. How did all of this start? It was only supposed to be a simple mission to find out the Akatsuki's information. She found it out sadly. She found out that they needed blood for a legendary summon. She found out that Sasuke also ran away from the Sound.

She also found out that she was in love with Uchiha Itachi.

_This time was different  
Felt like I was just a victim  
And they cut me like a knife  
When you walked out of my life  
Now I'm in this condition  
And I've got all the symptoms  
Of a girl with a broken heart  
But no matter what you'll never see me cry_

_This time was different  
Felt like I was just a victim  
And they cut me like a knife  
When you walked out of my life  
Now I'm in this condition  
And I've got all the symptoms  
Of a girl with a broken heart  
But no matter what you'll never see me cry_

It started out slowly, unintentional, and almost scary. She felt drawn to him. Everything about him was smoky and heated. His smirk, his kisses, his touch.

Now she was betrayed, again. She would have to learn how to live with it. She wanted to fall down and float away without ever waking up. The war would vanish and her troubles would just disintegrate.

And then reality struck.

The hot sun was basking a warm glow. Her shirt was torn and bloody and a bluish bruise was forming on her hand. _'I'm becoming like my old self again!'_ she mentally scolded.

But did she ever loose her old self? It felt…i-it felt like it was just tucked away, trying to break free at the right time.

'_I'm insane'_

Then she realized how stupid she must have looked. Staring at the grass in a bloodied outfit with corpses, Sound and Leaf scattering the ground. It looked like a scene from a horror movie.

_This time was different  
Felt like I was just a victim  
And they cut me like a knife  
When you walked out of my life  
Now I'm in this condition  
And I've got all the symptoms  
Of a girl with a broken heart  
But no matter what you'll never see me cry_

She straightened up her posture and injected chakra into her soles of her sandals. She sped towards the hospital where she knew Tsunade-shisou would be.

"Tsunade-shisou!" Sakura screamed as she entered the two doors. It looked like a madhouse. Sweat was rolling down Tsunade's cheeks. She looked as if she just came out from the sun.

"S-Sakura!!" she panted. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw Tsunade's legs wobble.

…_So much blood…_

"Lemme take this one" she whispered. Tsunade collapsed on a chair. Sakura began compressions on a jounin's chest as Shizune attempted to heal the torn muscle in his leg. Sakura yelped in surprise as the blood began to pour from the poor shinobi. "Okay, okay, roll him!" Sakura said, trying to stay calm. They rolled him to the right of the stretcher as he choked out about a pint of blood.

Jade eyes flickered worriedly to her heavily-breathing sensei on a metal chair.

"Sakura-sama, his vitals are dropping!" a nurse said, taking over compressions. "Sakura-hime, he's lost so much blood already!" another nurse said frantically, her voice cracking.

Sakura and Shizune exchanged glances.

"Call the blood bank again" Sakura ordered. Shizune sighed and looked at the heart monitor sadly. "Sakura…." she began.

Sakura began to heal some internal bleeding. "Amiya, fix the cracked rib!" she demanded. Shizune swallowed a lump in her throat and looked at the young nurse Yumaki who was desperately trying to help. It looked like Sakura was oblivious that the two were engaged.

"Yumaki, maybe you should go and tend to that ANBU with the broken leg" she whispered quickly.

Sakura shot a glare at Shizune. "Let her stay!" "We need to save this man!" she said, injecting some more of her cool chakra into the man's bloodstream.

"Sakura…."

A nurse tried healing the cracked rib but the shinobi was unstable. Monitors began to beep loudly. Shizune reluctantly removed her hand from his torn left leg.

"Sakura…." she said quietly.

Sakura stopped and watched sadly as the heart monitor stop. Yumaki ran out of the hospital.

Sakura's eyes stared down at the man.

She turned to Tsunade-shisou. She held a sympathetic look on her face, in her eyes. "Sometimes you can't save them" she whispered. She chuckled "not even the great Haruno Sakura"

_The Great Haruno Sakura…_

_As if. _

"I'm going after Itachi" Sakura blurted out. Tsunade's head whipped up, "I've already sent…" her voice trailed off.

Sakura was gone.

* * *

She had no idea where she was going. All she could do was follow the faint trace of Naruto's chakra.

'_The baka can't even still mask his completely'_

Shikamaru and Shino would command the ninjas. Plus Gaara was there.

'_They don't need me'_ she thought.

Sakura stopped on a branch as she felt Naruto's chakra vanished. She tried to trace him but he had disappeared. Sakura cursed under her breath and just decided to keep on going north.

'**Stop. Think about what you're doing'**

'_You're actually telling me to think?' _

'**What's that supposed to mean?'**

'_Whose the one that doesn't think and just reacts in the wrong way?!' _

'**Gonna ignore that…'**

'**There could be tons of caves in the woodlands, how are we going to search all of them when a war is going on?!'**

'_When I see a half cat, quarter dolphin, third rat thing pop up, I'll know that's where Orochimaru is hiding' _

'**...Itachi?'**

'_We'll just have to see' _

_Now I'm in this condition  
And I've got all the symptoms  
Of a girl with a broken heart  
But no matter what you'll never see me cry_

_All my life..._

* * *

_TSUZUKU-_

_Okay, thanks a lot for reading. I've been wicked busy and won't be able to update because I'm going to Virginia. So make sure to review because I want to see lots of them in my inbox! _

_THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MY BIG SISTER ETHEREAL INFERNIA WHO IS GOING THROUGH A HARD TIME NOW._

"_Thank you, come again!" _

_Shadowsakura321 P.S I'm Indian. Get it? _


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N Hello everyone! Gah, summer is almost over. August is right around the corner, wow. Thanks a lot to everyone who reviewed! It really made me happy. Virginia was really fun and awesome; we went to a gray wolf show at Busch Gardens! It was wicked awesome. _

_The rides and food was really good and our hotel rocked. Thankfully, we were there for Brownies and Ice Cream Night! Well, I wanna say that Anata Wa is almost done and I'm pretty sure that there won't be a sequel. But I am working on a SasSaku fic called_** Lovesick**_. Please check that one out! Later on, I'm also planning to do another SasSaku and a NejiSaku. This chapter is dedicated to my great friends, Flower of the Desert and Flynnfriend. _

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

'_Anata Wa…?'_

'_And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

'_I betrayed them, I betrayed every single person in Konoha'_

'**You fell in love, is that a crime?!'**

'_Yes, when you fall in love with a killer'_

Sakura's long delicate fingers reached up to her neck where the vial used to be.

'_Konoha…could get destroyed, because of me'_

'_The most pathetic kunoichi of all time…'_

Stop. She had to be strong. For all those little innocent Konoha children. Who didn't deserve to die, who needed to go on and live their lives.

For Ino and Hinata and Tenten.

For Tsunade and Kakashi and Naruto.

For Neji and Kiba and Lee.

----------

"Look over there…"

Sakura's head whipped up to hear Naruto's hushed whisper. Her head cautiously peaked from a pile of tall grasses. Neji turned around just as she quickly ducked. She cursed as something as a sharp rock cut her palm. Blood stained her hand.

Jaded cat eyes watched as the three boys hid up above in the trees.

She gasped as she saw a yellow blast come from a cave. The earth began to tremble as a piercing sound of a whistle came from inside the cave like a volcano was ready to erupt.

-----

"Quickly, Itachi-kun, I need the vial" Orochimaru said.

Itachi unclipped the vial from the black cord and handed it to the snake master. A rice paper scroll with the kanji of DEATH was placed against a large rock.

Kabuto, Orochimaru and Itachi all stood on three different sides of the cave, making a triangle. Yellow chakra was emitting from all of their hands. The rock was in the middle of the triangle, along with a silver bowl, delicately resting upon it.

Orochimaru through the vial into the silver pot. It bubbled for a minute and then stopped. A disgusting stench began to fill the cavern.

"On the count of three, we will all shoot our chakra into the pot"

"This will combine strong energy with the blood of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura who were all trained by Sannin's---the students of the Third Hokage himself" Orochimaru explained.

"Then, the kanji is supposed to light up in black" he said.

"Is that when the summon will appear?" Itachi asked.

Orochimaru licked him lips. "Hai" he said, grinning.

* * *

"WHY don't we STOP THEM?" Naruto yelled, from the treetops. Sasuke pulled him down from his vest.

"Dobe, shut up!" he said through gritted teeth.

He glanced over at Neji who was concentrating looking through from his byakugan. The veins along his lavender eyes looked frustrated. "What's happening?" Sasuke asked.

Neji's eyes hardened. "The rites are going as planned" he said.

"We can't even go up to ten feet by the cave because a strong barrier is protecting them"

"It could take minutes even hours to disable"

"Shouldn't we at least _try_?" Naruto said, exasperated.

"If we don't do something, _t-this, thing_ will come and destroy all of us!"

* * *

Sakura sighed. _'These morons don't know how to plot during a situation'_ She tried hard to remember statistics and plans to do in a short time when dealing with dangerous criminals.

Sakura drummed her fingers against her thigh, completely ignoring her blood stained hand. Her eyes grew wide.

Saki. It looked as if she was their only hope for peace.

'_I can't believe her name just rolled of my tongue, traitor'_ she thought bitterly, yet with a pang of sadness.

Quickly plugging her earpiece into her ear, she impatiently waited for the static to ease.

"Ino-pig?" she whispered, pressing a finger towards her ear and ducking even more. She felt dirt getting into her sandals. A faint rotten smell made its way to her nostrils. Her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Ino-pig?!" she said, harsher.

"…Forehead girl?"

"Ino, is Saki with you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"And why are you whispering?" "WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Ino-pig, Orochimaru is almost done summoning the Third's animal"

"I though he'd already be done, we have shinobi lining against the gate, ready to strike"

"No, since it's a large, ancient summon, it'll only take about fifteen minutes more"

"Does Saki have any idea to stop the summon or at least stall until more recruits get here and I actually have a plan?"

"I?" "The boys don't know your there?"

"No, Ino-pig, they don't and frankly I don't care"

"You are crazy!"

"Ino-pig, I need answers and I need them quick"

The other end was silent for a minute. Sakura thought she could hear whispering on the other end. What she didn't know that a pair of eyes were gazing down at her from the treetops.

* * *

"We have company" Neji said quietly. Red eyes looked up at Neji. "Who?" Sasuke asked, still holding down the impatient Naruto.

"Sakura"

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

"Dobe, shut up, you're going to get us all killed!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto before turning his gaze back onto Neji. "Why is she here?" he demanded.

Neji shrugged. "I have no idea" he said. "Guys, we are wasting time!!" Naruto urged them, his eyes daring to turn red.

* * *

Okay. Calm down. Think. Think.

"..Forehead girl, are you there?"

"Yeah, what did Saki tell you?"

"She said to summon Katsuyu and Inner Sakura" "Then, let only Inner Sakura go towards the cave because she can get through"

"And Katsuyu?"

"Use her for defense" "I'm guessing that's when the boys start the action as well"

"Okay, thanks"

"Stay alive!"

"Over, out"

Sakura switched off her transmitter. Pulling out her scroll, her bit her thumb and swiped it over the kanji. "Kuchiyose no jutsu" she whispered.

* * *

"She's summoning Katsuyu?" _"Now?"_ Sasuke asked in disbelief.

Naruto smirked "did you even know that she could summon Tsunade-bachaan's slug?"

Sasuke didn't say anything.

* * *

"Inner Sakura-release!" Sakura slowly shut her eyes as she felt a part of her chakra-her soul leaving her slowly.

"**I understand" she said, taking out a kunai.**

Sakura raised a perfect pink eyebrow. "I didn't say anything" she stated.

Inner Sakura rolled her eyes. **"I'm you remember?"**

Oh. Right.

* * *

"Looks like we've got some visitors" Kabuto said, pushing up his glasses. Orochimaru licked his lips as he watched the slug appear; on top of it he saw a head of pink.

Itachi stared at Sakura, her face furious. He smirked, remembering her lips against his. _'She kissed back'_ his ego remarked triumphantly.

Something hit him. Whenever he saw her, an emotion would rumble in his mind, in…his heart.

It was powerful, even more powerful than bloodlust and murder.

It was getting harder to push away. Even when he saw her with other men.

Was…he falling in love??

* * *

'_This is stupid' 'I disagree with this'_ Deidara thought, forgetting to use his trademark "yeah". He slashed another Konoha ninja's neck and watched as a woman and her child screamed hysterically.

He didn't want this. Why were they working with the Sound anyways?

They didn't even keep up their part of the deal; Itachi had gotten the vial, not them.

What was going to happen, everything was so jumbled.

* * *

"One"

"Two"

"Three!"

They all shot the yellow chakra into the bubbling pot. Orochimaru watched as the kanji lit up.

It had worked.

"O-Orochimaru-sama!" "How can she break threw the barrier?" Kabuto yelled, astonished. Katsuyu and "Sakura" were riding steadily towards the cave.

Oddly, they had gone threw the barrier and nothing had happened.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. Orochimaru laughed cruelly. "It doesn't matter now" The earth began to shake furiously as a big crack opened. Kabuto's eyes widened as something appeared from under the soil and rock.

Orochimaru smirked and walked towards the beast and gave a mocking bow.

"Welcome back _satsugaikage"_

* * *

As the rock and earth literally split, Inner Sakura's jaw dropped. Slithering up was a giant eel with long saber toothed fangs, purple poison shining at the edges. She watched as it then disappeared and then reappeared-to become an enormous black cat. Lastly, she watched it stretch and then vanish again to only reappear as a dark green dragon.

Behind each creature, you could see its dark shadow.

Katsuyu looked at the "thing" in disgust. "It's been so long" she whispered.

Inner Sakura shook. She felt a pair of eyes on her and tore her eyes off the creature and looked to find Itachi staring at her. She ignored him and the goose bumps on her skin. Turning her head back, she saw the real Sakura's eyes wide with terror.

* * *

Naruto's eyes grew wide and round as saucers when he saw the summon, or _summons._

He pointed a shaky finger at the large creature.

"W-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" he yelled.

Neji studied the creature carefully, as if analyzing every detail. "It seems that this summon can switch into three different forms, therefore we are up against three different threats"

"Don't forget Manda and the snakes" Sasuke put in.

"Yeah, and all of Itachi's Akatsuki pals" Naruto said in a serious tone.

As if the beast wasn't enough, Naruto's jaw dropped. "WHAT'S SAKURA-CHAN DOING OUT THERE?!" he yelled.

Neji just stared at him.

"You just realized that dobe?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto nodded "yes" he replied dumbly.

Neji shook his head "no, that's Inner Sakura which explains why she was able to break threw the barrier"

Naruto looked down where he saw the real Sakura crouching down. He looked at Neji and Sasuke.

"Let's go!"

"Hn"

"…."

* * *

It was time to fight. Finally.

Sakura jumped up from the bushes, katana in hand.

'_What about the barrier?' _

'_I guess they've got to come out and play over here'_

"RETREAT!" She yelled at Inner Sakura and Katsuyu. She watched as Itachi and Kabuto flew onto the satsugaikage with Orochimaru. It was right now in the form of the eel and was chasing Katsuyu, back to the trees.

Back to them.

Back to _Konoha._

Neji, Naruto, and Sasuke hopped down from the trees, getting into their battles stances.

Sasuke's Sharingan began to spin. "Itachi…." He growled.

"Attack!" Orochimaru ordered. Obeying, the eel bared its long fangs and shot out poison needles. Everyone dodged. Satsugaikage smirked at Katsuyu.

"I haven't seen you in a long time" he said, smirking.

"Bastard" the slug spat.

Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Itachi watched as Inner Sakura disintegrated and then the real Sakura was perched on her back, determination in her eyes.

"Katsuyu-_Zesshi Nensan_!" Sakura ordered. Katsuyu's tongue lashed out, spitting acid on the eel. It ducked and returned with some more poison.

Sasuke's hands made hand signs as he took a deep breath.

"_Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"_ A large, spiraling fireball was aimed perfectly at the eel. At the same time, Naruto summoned about two dozen clones.

Itachi stepped in front of Orochimaru, his hands moving so fast that Sakura could barely make out the seals.

"_Suiton: Suigadan!" _

A circle of crushing water flew into the fireball, extinguishing it as steam rose into the air.

Sakura gasped as Orochimaru pressed his two index fingers together. Satsugaikage vanished once again as the three ninjas easily jumped onto the ground. Sasuke took no time as he charged at Itachi, kunai in hand. Itachi grabbed his own and the two engaged in battle. The Naruto clones jumped into action but Orochimaru and Kabuto quickly defeated them.

Sakura jumped off Katsuyu, signaling her to come out whenever the Satsugaikage was insight again.

Sakura lifted up a leg and smashed it onto the earth. Boulders and dirt flew up as Kabuto jumped out of the way from being pummeled by a rock.

'_I will not let them hurt Konoha!' _

'_I will not ever turn my back on people who need me!'_

"_Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu!"_

Whipping out numerous kunai, she threw them with almost excellent accuracy at the targets. The last one had an exploding tag attached to it.

"Kai!"

It exploded, sending everyone backwards. Sakura watched as Naruto crashed into a tree. As the dark smoke cleared, two large craters were left in the Earth.

Using this as an opportunity, Neji activated his byakugan to locate Kabuto. Charging at him in his Juken style, Neji shouted _"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"_ Aiming his hands at Kabuto's tenketsu, Kabuto barely dodged the sixty four deadly strikes. Kabuto's hand shot out covered in a blue glowing chakra.

Sakura, being a medical ninja yelled to Neji "Neji-kun, make sure to not him touch you, it could damage your organs!!"

Neji nodded, dodging Kabuto's glowing hands.

Naruto's eyes traveled to the smirking snake Sannin. "Nice to see you again Naruto-kun" he said.

Naruto appeared protectively in front of Sakura. "Stay behind me Sakura-chan" he said softly. Sakura's shoulders slumped.

Kami, after all she had just pulled off!! Naruto still wanted to protect her.

'_I give up, I'm just not strong'_

Staring at Itachi, Sakura put on a fake smile. "I will, let's beat this snake freak"

Naruto stared.

He hadn't expected her to listen.

* * *

**JAPANESE TRANSLATIONS**

**Satsugaikage-Killing Shadow.**

**Hakke Rokujuyon Sho-Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms**

**Used by Neji and the Hyuga clan to attack your chakra points. The pace increases and when hit, it becomes difficult to move. This could be easy for Kabuto to dodge though because he's a medic-nin and knows the body.**

**Tenketsu-Chakra Points**

**Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu-Sakura Blizzard Jutsu. Used in Movie #1 when Sakura blows the hole place up with kunai and explosive tags!**

**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu-Fire Release: Phoneix Immortal Fire Technique. Shooting quick balls of fire with some shuriken inside sometimes. Used by Sasuke, Itachi and the members of the Uchiha clan, which are all sadly deceased. **

**Suiton: Suigadan-Water Release: Water Fang Bullet. A quick, rough circle of crushing water. Used by Itachi Uchiha.**

**Zesshi Nensan-Spit dangerous poison out of her mouth. It can melt rock. Used by Katsuyu.**

* * *

-TSUZUKU-

Hope you liked it!! Only a couple more chapters to go and then I'll be posting **Lovesick!** Anyways, please leave a review!

Peace out.

Shadowsakura321


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N Please check out my new story called Sakura Day. **_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

'_Anata Wa…?'_

'_And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321 _

_

* * *

_"_SAKURA!"_

_Nine year-old Sakura looked up from painting under a tree in her backyard. Hearing her mother's voice, she left her paints in the shade and ran inside. "Hai, okaasan?" she asked._

_Her mother sat down on the couch and beckoned her over. Sakura sat on her lap. Her mother smiled gently and stroked Sakura's long hair._

"_Sakura?" "Have you ever heard the legend of the Satsugaikage?" _

_Sakura shook her head, wide-eyed._

"_Is it…a monster?" she whispered, frightened. _

_Her mother chuckled at her daughter's naïve ness. "Well, that's if you believe in the legend, right silly?!" she said. Sakura smiled and nodded._

"_You know the Sandaime, no Sakura?" _

_Sakura's eyes lit up. "Hokage-sama!" She nodded. "He usually picks flowers with me and Ino-chan when he's not busy!" she said happily. "Tell me the legend okaasan!" she asked, pouting and batting her eyelashes._

"_Okay, Sakura"_

"_It was said that when under the teachings of the First and Second Hokage, Sandaime-sama made a legendary summon that could change forms"_

"_One was a cat for agility"_

"_One was an eel for slyness"_

"_And was one a dragon for power"_

_Sakura's eyes grew wide. "Wow" she said under her breath._

"_But the summon grew too powerful for the Hokage to handle, so he locked it away forever" her mother spoke._

_Sakura snuggled closer to her mother. "Forever?"_

_Her mother nodded. "The only way it could be unlocked is for Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, and Orochimaru-sama to combine some of their blood"_

_Sakura nodded. "The most powerful ninja, the Sannin" she spoke._

"_Hai"_

"_But why?" _

"_Well, nobody knows for sure" "It was said that it was only his students that Sandaime could trust to revive the Satsugaikage so he used their blood"_

"_But what about his student's student's?" Her mother looked at her in confusion. "Nani?"_

_Sakura pouted as if thinking. "I mean okaasan, what if the Sannin want to revive the Satsugaikage but a new generation has been created?" _

"_What if now new students were training under the Sannin?"_

_Her mother looked at her thoughtfully. "Hmm…"_

"_Well, I think then they would need the Sannin's student's new blood" _

"_Why?"_

"_Why do they need the student's blood??"_

"_You ask too many questions honey"_

"_Most likely because the cycle of ninjas has begun again and fresh blood is needed"_

_Sakura nodded, her eyes bright green. "I get it okaasan!" she said, hopping out of her mother's lap. "I have to go paint now" she stated proudly._

_Her mother smiled as she watched her daughter bounce into the backyard. Her smile grew wider._

_Sakura was always the smart one._

* * *

Shikamaru rubbed his temples and sighed. This was troublesome. This war was beginning to piss him off, he was getting tired and he didn't have a clue where Ino or Chouji was. Konoha was a mess. He had heard that a couple of shinobi had gone off to fight the Satsugaikage. He watched as Tenten charged at a Sound shinobi and slicing him in a fatal spot. He grimaced.

Konoha was full of strong women. Aggressive women. Look at his own deadly Ino, Anko, Tenten, and the mighty Haruno Sakura. Plus the Godaime was a female. Also, their allies had tough females. Temari could kick his ass any time. He felt bad for the stoic Godaime Kazekage. "Winning Women" Kakashi and Jiraiya always called them.

"Shikamaru, do you come in?"

Shikamaru was surprised to hear her voice on the other line. This must be troublesome. "Sakura?" he asked reluctantly. Using his Kage Mane No Jutsu, he watched as Shino swooped in and devoured the remaining shinobi with his bugs.

"Shikamaru-kun, we are fighting the Satsugaikage and we back need back up sooner or later" Her voice was cut off by static and then a scream. His blood began to rush. Shikamaru fell to the ground as he felt a poison needle enter his right arm.

He mentally cursed. _'Damn, I lowered my guard'_ he thought angrily. Ignoring the stinging and numbness, Shikamaru pressed a finger on his transmitter.

"Sakura?" "Sakura, do you come in?"

"H-Hai, I'm okay…"

Shikamaru looked around. Blood and corpses were spewed everywhere. The remaining shinobi were tired and pale.

'_If Orochimaru brings in the Satsugaikage, we will be defeated, they need to stop it no matter what'_

'_But we're already low on ninjas and Sakura is out there, damn it…'_

"Sakura!" "We can't send out any more shinobi, you'll have to defeat them yourself" His tone was painful.

"S-Shikamaru-kun!" "W-We need hel-"

"_Over"_

Shikamaru switched his transmitter off, disregarding his inner thoughts.

His arm hung limply by his side. His eyes widened.

'_I can't use my Shadow techniques!'_

* * *

Itachi disappeared behind Kabuto, trying to get away from Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes were full of rage, chidori in hand and almost and level two in his cursed seal.

"UCHIHA!" "Control yourself!" Neji yelled over the noise, aiming a kunai at Kabuto. Sasuke ignored him as he began to get angrier. Naruto cursed at the sight of his best friend. Blue eyes worriedly looked at him, feeling his chakra rising up to a powerful level. Sasuke began to sprout his wings. His pale face grew darker. Naruto made a mental note not to go anywhere near his new pointed claws.

"Bastard!" Sasuke roared at his older brother.

_You took everything away from me…_

Sakura sent another fist into the ground, this time successfully hitting Orochimaru. Flying threw the air, Orochimaru pressed his index fingers together and smirked. Sakura's eyes widened. _'Kuso!' _She had learned that when he pressed his two index fingers together, the Satsugaikage would appear.

The earth began to shake as the Satsugaikage appeared in the shape of the eel, spitting out venom. She felt Neji grab her as she placed her arms securely around his neck. She looked back at Itachi who was glaring. Sakura smirked.

Orochimaru was on top of the Satsugaikage's head as he then pressed his fingers together again.

"Ryu!" he yelled. Sakura watched wide-eyed as the purple eel turned into a large green dragon.

He opened his mouth and spurted orange-red flames out everywhere in the ground. Sakura screamed, terrified. She found herself on the ground separated from everyone else. Trees were ablaze with red fire. Gray smoke rose into the sky as Sakura coughed and rolled on the ground. She scampered out of the way just in time as a tree came crashing down on the earth, spewing flames on the dirt. Sakura yelled as she felt fire lick her ANBU vest. She unzipped it, taking out her weapons and threw it on the ground, engulping in hot fire in seconds.

She could see the dragon's head emitting additional flames.

'_They're going to burn us to death!'_

A few tears clouded her vision.

'_Itachi, how could you do this to me?!' _

Her vision was blurring dramatically. Smoke found its way to her nostrils. The fiery inferno was getting hotter by the second and rising quickly. Everything was ablaze. Sakura coughed.

"N..Naruto!" "Can you h-hear m-me?!" Sakura managed to yell. There was no answer, only the eeire roar and crackle of the twigs and the fire. Sakura panicked. She yelped as the soil heated beneath her.

'_I-I can't breathe…!!'_

* * *

_Tsuzuku…_

_Sorry for the short chapter! Thanks to everyone who reads the Author's Notes, you guys rock! Reviews are greatly appreciated and please check out Sakura Day!_

_Peace. Love. _

_Shadowsakura321_


	21. Chapter 21

A/N Thanks a lot for the positive feedback on both stories! This chapter was a little difficult to write and I had about four different ideas before going with this one. I hope this chapter makes up for the really short one….

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

'_Anata Wa…?'_

'_And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

_I don't get it. We're supposed to be shinobi. __We risk out lives each day on a mission. __We are not supposed to have feelings, we are not allowed to get sad and cry. But every one has a weak point. __You think you've blocked everything but you can't. The toughest of the tough shinobi can always break._

_-Haruno Sakura _

* * *

Naruto found himself on top of a tree branch as he desperately tried to find an opening where he could land safely. Flames licked the tree trunk as he gave a masculine cry and was forced to jump in the air.

His eyes searched for Neji, Sasuke and Sakura. His limbs were aching badly and he silently admitted that he wouldn't be able to keep up. The Satsugaikage was still in its dragon form with the three ninjas on top of its scaly head. Naruto's brows knitted as his head leaned forward to get a better look.

'…_the hell?'_

* * *

Sasuke awoke first. His vision was blurry and all he could sense was intense heat. He blinked. He sneezed.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, nice of you to join us"

His eyes widened as he realized he was cuffed behind his back on the Satsugaikage. Orochimaru was grinning, Kabuto was smirking and Itachi looked predictably bored. Sasuke activated his Sharingan.

He knew on the inside his brother was seething. Itachi wasn't the one to show outside emotion but he knew that the tabletops in battle where turning.

Sasuke looked to his left to see Neji knocked out unconscious and bound.

He hissed. _'Damn it, I'm running out of options!'_

In one way or another, the four elements were always with you. As a ninja, you would have to learn to use the natural elements around you. Kakashi and Jiraiya had been teaching him. He knew Sasuke was skilled at fire and Sakura could bend water expertly. Naruto only knew a little earth and barely a little air.

He felt the chakra in his sandals began to wear down slowly. He would have to find a place to land soon though everything was engulfed in burning flames.

Naruto looked around warily and found a patch of steep boulders by a raging river.

Before he could jump, the chakra was gone. He felt himself falling right into the burning flames.

"When will you learn, Sasuke, that you will never be good as me?" Itachi sneered.

Sasuke glared at him and then looked at the knocked out cold Neji. He had no idea where Sakura was and he just saw Naruto fall.

'_We_ _could die'_

Concentrating, Sasuke focused on melting the handcuffs with fire. Orochimaru turned around as Sasuke forced the handcuffs off of him.

'_Impossible'_ he thought.

Sasuke dodged the poison needle Kabuto aimed at him. Sasuke grabbed Neji and shot up in the air, throwing an explosive tag right at the dragon. Smoke rose as it exploded. Sasuke was sure that the Satsugaikage had disappeared into its shadow but all he cared about was three shinobi falling into flames.

He placed Neji down on a boulder and yanked off the handcuffs.

Angrily, he watched Itachi form some seals. The flames moved back leaving the shinobi to land in a patch of charred grass.

"Hyuga!" "Wake up!" Sasuke snapped, shaking him forcefully. Neji stirred. Sasuke's eyes widened as Kabuto sent a flurry of purple poison gas straight as them. Sasuke had no choice but to hold his breath, grab Neji and push them both into the raging water.

-------

Neji was wide awake now and had a vague idea about what was going on. He felt himself being pulled away from Sasuke and go under the waves. The current was fast and rough with huge rocks.

He didn't know any signs to control or bend water and he wasn't sure if Sasuke knew anything either. Neji knew his chakra was low and he struggled to get above the surface. He kicked desperately as his arms were failing wildly above the frothing water. Neji felt his body slam into a rock. Water rushed into lungs and shoved down his throat.

He tried to breathe but only more water filled into his body. Neji felt Sasuke grab him and hoist him above the surface. Sasuke was clutching the rock with one arm and held Neji's shoulder with the other one.

Sasuke looked up for anything to grab but only saw burnt vines. Slowly, Neji let go of Sasuke. Sasuke looked at him as if he was crazy. Sasuke watched the water carry Neji and slam him into another boulder. This time Neji wrapped his arms against the rock.

"Uchiha!"

Sasuke's mind was racing for ideas. His arms were starting to throb badly. He wrapped his legs against the slippery rock and managed to make a basic hand seal. "Mizu bunshin no jutsu" he whispered. Two clones appeared on the watery boulders by the water's edge. Sasuke felt himself being hoisted out of the water. He was soaking wet but he knew soon that the fire's heat would dry him off. Strands of wet black framed his elegant yet very pissed off face. He glanced over at the struggling Hyuga on the other side of the river.

Boulders were on both sides of the raging river. Then fire was engulfing the land behind the boulders on Neji's side but everything was clear on his one side.

'_Oh god'_

He watched as Neji tried to clamp onto the rock but the rushing water crushed his legs and forced him to follow the current. He could sense waterfall because he watched the current grow faster.

Sasuke watched his clones interlock hands. Sasuke tied a heavy chakra string around his waist and then carefully bent over to hook it over a rock. Being cautious not to slip, Sasuke dove into the water to grab Neji.

'_This would be so much easier if I could just use some chakra to run across the damn stream'_

Sasuke knew that he had to conserve whatever energy he had left to battle. Much to his dismay, there **was** still a war going on here.

-------

For once in his nineteen-year-old lifespan, Hyuga Neji actually let fear come across his handsome features.

'_Please let it be a small waterfall'_ he prayed silently. He was hurtling in the fast water, occasionally bumping into rocks. It was just a matter of time before he would go crashing down a giant waterfall and plunging into the dark eerie depths of his death.

'_How nice'_ he thought sarcastically as he inwardly winced.

Neji zapped some chakra into his drenched sandals as he struggled to plant his chakra-filled feet into the lake bottom. All he could feel was water, pebbles, annoying little fish, and more water.

A throbbing vein popped in his head.

* * *

"Mizu bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto screamed as he rolled away from the hot flames, eyes wide. About a dozen water clones appeared and then deliberately threw themselves into the orange-red flames. The fire doused and a snake-like hiss was heard as steam rose. Breathing heavily, Naruto lay on his back on the charred earth where

* * *

'**Sakura, wake up'**

Sakura stirred.

'_Am I dead?'_

'**I dunno, all I see is fire and Itachi'**

'_ITACHI?!'_

Sakura coughed as she rolled on her belly. In the steamy midst, she could make out a figure. Making some water symbols, a big splash of water doused the fire. Sakura looked down. Her ANBU vest was gone and her clothes were torn, burnt, and stunk of dried blood and sweat. Sakura's nose wrinkled in disgust. Her pink locks were singed and tousled.

Sakua gulped as she looked at Itachi just staring at her. _"You"_ she hissed. Obviously acting before thinking, Sakura lunged at the prodigy. Smirking, Itachi grabbed her wrists and pinned them behind her back. She fought back and the two fell with a _'plop' _on the overcooked environment. Her face turned bright red, either from anger or embarrassment as she felt him against her. She tried to pry her hands out of his, creating a very uncomfortable vibe between the two shinobi.

Sakura yelped as she felt him bury his head in the crook of her pale neck. She shuddered. When he blinked, she could feel his eyelashes on her sensitive skin.

"Get…off…of…me!" she managed to yell.

'_Oh c'mon, you know you want this' 'Hmm, maybe he does too'_

'**He's the enemy; never have feelings for the wrong side!!'**

'_Hmph' _

'_Jeez, this started out as a simple mission to see what the Akatsuki was up too'_

_'I was supposed to be Yume not Sakura!'_

'**Right…'**_** 'I'm Ishida Yume!' 'And you are???' **_

'_Anata Wa!' 'I have to show fake politeness, can't be rude to the hot enemy'_

'_Did I call him HOT?!'_

'…**screw everything girl'**

Sakura managed to get her legs up and kick Itachi in the guts. He went flying back into a tree but then dissolved into water. Kunai in hand, Sakura looked everywhere. No one was in sight. She was all alone.

"Sakura-chan!" a loud hyperactive blode cried.

Sakura's head whipped backwards to see a tired Naruto jogging towards her. Her eyes widened in both happiness and relief.

"Naruto!"

She felt herself being engulfed in a huge bear hug. Sakura stood on her tip-toes as Naruto literally whipped her off her feet.

"Sakura-chan, where is everyone?!" Naruto asked, pulling away from her.

Sakura healed a small cut on her arm. "I don't know, they probably disappeared to plan something even more dangerous" She clenched her fists.

Naruto panted and then looked sadly at Sakura. "Sasuke-teme?" "Neji-teme?" he asked quietly.

Sakura swallowed a large lump in her throat. "I-I d-don't know-w either" she stammered. Sakura bit her lip.

"Do you think they're…dead?" he whispered.

Sakura shook her head. "No" "They're here somewhere" she said confidently.

She saw Naruto running to the broken trees, and the collapsed caves with plenty of debris. "I'll look here!" he called. Sakura nodded and began to run the opposite direction. All she saw was burnt earth, a pile of wet rocks followed by something but it was all hidden in trees and wreckage. Sakura's ears perked up at a sound.

'_Water?'_ she pondered.

Increasing her pace, Sakura ran to the cascading pile of slippery rocks. Her eyes widened as she lost her footing over a small rock. Falling backwards, Sakura whipped out her katana and whammed it into a boulder with enough power to crack the rock. Chakra laced her shoes, making her stick.

She gulped and carefully removed the weapon. Her chakra was making her stick like glue. She felt her arms wrap around a vine. Releasing her chakra, Sakura pulled herself up so she could walk by the water's edge.

"Neji-kun!" she screamed as she saw the limp body of him rolling in the water. Her mind thought the worst. Sakura nearly jumped in but a yell stopped her.

"Stop!" Sakura looked on the other side of the lake to see two clones of Sasuke. She looked back into the water to see the real Sasuke throw a chakra string around Neji.

Sakura quickly teleported to the other side of the river. She saw Sasuke trudging in the water. With her monstrous strength, she heaved the two boys out of the water. The two clones disappeared as Sakura cut the chakra string from the rock and the two shinobi.

She also noticed that no matter how much Sasuke tried not to show it, he was shivering. He had Neji in his arms and was deathly pale.

Sakura looked around. No blankets. Nothing whatsoever.

"Come over here" she beckoned in her motherly tone.

They walked over from the freezing water and cool area to the charred earth. Sakura screamed for Naruto as Sasuke laid Neji on the ground. Sasuke lit a small flame in his hand; emitting warmth threw out his body. His clothes stuck to him and he was white. Teeth chattering softly, Sasuke sat on the still heated ground and pushed some wet hair away from his face.

He watched as Sakura began to perform CPR on Neji.

Sakura ignored the jealous aura coming from Sasuke's weak body. It was stupid for him to think of something like that in a time like this. She rolled her eyes and grit her teeth.

"Come on Neji-kun" she whispered. Sakura put her head against his cold chest. "I've got a heartbeat!" she said triumphantly. Sakura felt footsteps coming their way. Naruto sighed in relief.

"Teme!" "You're alive" he said.

Taking off his ANBU jacket, Naruto passed it to Sakura. She carefully lifted up Neji's head and zipped the jacket on him.

"Sasuke, take off your ANBU vest" she advised.

One less article of wet clothing, the better.

Sasuke did as he was told. He grunted as the flame went out from his hand. At least the ground was a little warm from the previous fire.

Sakura bit her lip. Sasuke wouldn't remove his clothing even if he was ordered too. There was a slight chance of hypothermia, the both of them.

"We need to get help" Naruto spoke finally. Sakura nodded in agreement and looked at Sasuke.

"My transmitter is wet" he stated. Sakura raised a hand to her ear to find nothing. "My burned" she declared.

Naruto felt two pairs of eyes on him. He nodded and sat down cross-legged and began to radio in Shikamaru.

The four of them sat down, well one laid down on the charred forest. Sakura had no idea where they were but she knew it was about a good twenty minutes away from Konoha.

Broken burnt trees lay on the ground. The twisted branches and some dark leaves scattered the field. The ground was bare except for a tan color of sand and dirt. Burn marks were everywhere.

Blood stained the ground. Weapons stuck to rocks from collapsed case.

There was almost no sound of life. Almost no sound at all except breathing and rushing water.

Sakura sighed and leaned against Naruto for support, her hand caressing Neji's face. The color was slowly returning on his face. She looked at Sasuke who was still freezing.

Sakura dug threw her medical kit to only find some burnt bandages, melted antidotes and some gauze.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" she whispered. He looked at her and nodded.

Sakura wished he could just open up. She wanted to hug him like a brother.

Slowly she scooted over to him, ignoring Naruto's questioning gaze.

Their bodies were next together as Sakura leaned her head against him, her shoulders limp.

Sasuke didn't say anything but just closed his tired obsidian eyes.

It made Sakura feel as if they were doing the chuunin exams all over again.

* * *

"…Shikamaru, do you come in?"

Shikamaru nearly collapsed at the sound of Naruto's voice. He was currently at the hospital with Hinata, Saki, and Ino.

"Naruto!" he shouted. Hinata's eyes glowed. She had been worried sick. Ino patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"Shikamaru, we need blankets and water!" Naruto's voice cracked.

Shikamaru nodded. "Affirmative" he stated as he looked over to Saki and Hinata.

"Where are you guys?"

"….I don't know, we're in a very big, burnt down forest"

Shikamaru sighed and motioned for Hinata to get up.

"Over and out, we'll get there soon"

"Lazy-ass, hurry up!"

Shikamaru sighed. _'How troublesome'_

Hinata stood up; her long hair did a French braid. "Hinata, can you go?" Shikamaru asked. She nodded "sure Shikamaru-kun" she said. Ino walked over to a cabinet and pulled out four fuzzy blue blankets.

She handed them to Hinata. "What are they going to do?" "Stay there?" she asked her friend.

"They probably would for a while and then head back to Konoha" Shikamaru said.

Ino sighed.

Hinata clutched the blankets and ran out the doors.

* * *

Sasuke lay his head down on the gravel and drifted to sleep. Sakura cuddled next to Naruto for some warmth. "How do you think Konoha looks now?" she asked quietly.

She heard Naruto sigh. "I don't know Sakura-chan, if something like the Satsugaikage is what that snake bastard has, then Konoha might become overpowered" Sakura shuddered at the thought.

She was quiet for a minute.

* * *

'_Do you feel as if…_

'…**someone is watching us?' **

* * *

Sakura discreetly pulled out a shuriken from her pocket. A soft cackle was heard. Sakura watched Naruto react like a small fox, his ears perking up and his wide eyes becoming on the alert.

The soft cackle gradually became loud mocking laughter.

"Who's there?" Naruto asked.

Sakura tried to pinpoint their location but with no avail.

'_Seems like these shinobi like using the ambush strategy'_ Sakura thought bitterly. Sakura glanced at the two sleeping prodigies by her side. She bit her lip. A little fear shot through out her body.

'_Sasuke and Neji-kun are knocked out, we're both low on chakra, and if these shinobi are really strong…'_

'_Then there's Naruto, if he suddenly changes into the Kyuubi…'_

Sakura cursed under her breath. She wished she had a watch to see what the time was. They needed back-up, and their friends wouldn't reach before the fight started.

"Stop the violence" she muttered. She felt a large hand grasp hers.

"Sakura-chan, the violence hasn't even started"

Sakura shut her eyes as she heard Naruto calling out to the mysterious shinobi.

Her eyes opened as she heard a twig snap.

She looked at their headbands and gulped.

"Who are you?" she asked again.

The shinobi in the middle smirked and gazed at the pink-haired kunoichi.

"We are, team Hebi"

* * *

**Tsuzuku.**

**A/N –Sigh- Looks like I gots a lot of explaining to do. Reviews are appreciated!!**

**Shadowsakura321 P.S Does anyone know where I can watch the Naruto Shippuden movie online?**


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Sakura Day is now the official spinoff of Anata Wa! I worked so hard on both of them! **Please **review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics _

**Bold-Inner Sakura **

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

_'_ _Anata_ _Wa__…?' _

_ 'And You Are…?' _

_By: Shadowsakura321 _

_

* * *

_

****The aura around Naruto and Sakura was deadly. It felt as if the temperature had dropped ten degrees even though the soil was heated from the fire.

'_I thought Team Hebi was supposed to assemble _**after**_ Sasuke killed Orochimaru'_

'_Hmm, guess they were already formed in Otogakure but things got a little twisted when I got involved with the all-so-great Akatsuki'_

Sakura looked at the three members. Karin stepped out from behind the two boys and smirked. She eyed Sakura up and down. "So this is the pink-haired bitch Sasuke-kun was teamed up with" Karin sneered. Naruto glanced at his teammate. He expected a tantrum or a splitting crack in the earth to happen shortly.

Sakura breathed in deeply. She wasn't going to loose her cool over a pathetic kunoichi like her. _'She's like my twelve-year-old self'_ Mint green eyes almost held sympathy.

Karin glared at the calm kunoichi. "You're just jealous of me you little slut, Sasuke-kun and I work better together than you and him!" she lashed out.

Naruto was anxious now. He was waiting for Sakura's outburst.

He was wrong.

Sakura crossed her legs and tapped her chin "Now I wonder who's the ninja who saved his life just now" she said innocently.

"You might think that you are the best" Sakura said darkly. "But Sasuke and I have been through more than anything you will ever face"

Karin gritted her teeth. "You…little…whore!" she snapped. Sakura ignored her as Karin sputtered something under her breath. Naruto was wide-eyed, Sakura was already intimidating Karin. He watched as she slowly shrunk under Sakura's threatening gaze and clamped her mouth shut. Suigetsu pushed Karin out of the way and looked straight at Sakura.

"I'll fight her" he stated. Sakura chuckled. "Che, look at the other moron" She smirked inwardly at Karin's red face.

Karin stomped her foot and grabbed Suigetsu. "We're here to get Sasuke-kun, he's coming with **me** after Orochimaru-sama destroys your petty country" she snorted.

"Sasuke is not going anywhere" Naruto retorted in angrily.

"Tch, look, we have a fox and a blossom" "How amusing" Juugo finally spoke.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I've had enough of this" she laughed. Karin opened her mouth to retort but before her eyes, Sakura was already up in the air.

"Painful Sky Leg!"

Everyone scrambled out of the way as Naruto grabbed his two friends. A deadly crater appeared in the ground as Karin nearly fell into the spiked rocks. Some gravel spewed in her face as she spit out little gray rocks. Her face was flushed with anger. Sakura found it hilarious.

Sakura watched Naruto lay Neji and Sasuke protectively in a shady corner. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

'_We have to always be on the alert'_

Karin came racing towards Sakura, kunai in hand. The sound of metal clanking together could be heard. Sakura easily blocked Karin's kick and flipped over, punching her in the abdomen. Karin went flying back as she fell and rolled on the dirt.

Sakura felt a pang.

'_Naruto and I are both low on chakra, we have to use small attacks to conserve our energy' _

Naruto seemed to know too because he all he was basically doing was throwing kunai and dodging attacks.

Karin smirked. _'I can already see my advantage' _quickly she vanished and reappeared behind Sakura. Sakura swung arm over to punch but Karin grabbed it. She smirked triumphantly at the small look of surprise that flashed on Sakura's features. She kicked the back of her knee, forcing Sakura's legs to buckle.

Sakura's eyes widened as she crumpled to the ground. She watched as Karin formed a hand seal. Sakura cursed.

'_Bingo'_ Karin smirked.

It had worked; she was in Sakura's mind.

* * *

Naruto glared daggers at the two shinobi. He was drenched in water courtesy of Suigetsu and was low on chakra. Naruto looked nervously at Juugo. He had heard this one was mentally unstable.

'_Aren't all Sound shinobi retarded?'_ he thought to himself.

Yet even though he appears bloodthirsty, he really doesn't want to kill anyone. He talks to himself. Juugo's fits of rage are purely random.

"_He talks to himself about which teammate he wants to kill first" Sakura said to Naruto in the ANBU headquarters, throwing Naruto a file on a member of "Snake"._

Naruto grimaced as he felt his chakra level drop again. He threw an explosive tag on the ground. Suigetsu turned into water and Juugo jumped into the air.

Naruto felt Suigetsu's water whips wrap around his legs. Slowly, the crept up his body, choking him painfully. Naruto fell to the ground as he felt his legs go completely numb. His eyes widened as he saw Juugo's forearm transform into a massive blade and charge straight at him.

* * *

_The air was damp and chilled. A full silver moon lit Konoha as brown leaves fell to the stoned ground. The moonlit village was completely silent except for the sound of a young kunoichi begging into the air. Tears rolled down Sakura's cheeks. It was years ago, Sasuke and Sakura looked like little kids instead of their mature teenager selves. _

"_Don't leave!" "If you do, I'll scream!" The wind made a swishing noise as she felt Sasuke's' presence behind her in a flash. Tear-filled viridian eyes were wide as she heard his deep voice._

"_Sakura…thank you" _

Karin raised an eyebrow. It looked as if…Sasuke cared for her. Karin felt a jab. She gasped.

'…**excuse me'**

'**GET. OUT. OF. MY. MIND!'**

Inner Sakura drew her hand back and gave a forceful punch straight at her face. Karin went flying out of Sakura's mind and nearly fell into the river if not for her chakra. Sakura wasted no time spurting out a poison gas straight towards her. Karin gasped and held her breath. Her eyes blurred as she wobbled on the slippery rocks. Sakura rushed over and grabbed the unconscious kunoichi and laid her down by a tree trunk.

Instead of a dark purple, the gas was a light blue and was only powerful enough to knock a ninja out, although the consequences could prove fatal to a normal civilian or child.

* * *

"Hakkesho Kaiten!"

Naruto shut his eyes as he felt a circle of air. Juugo went spiraling onto the earth while the water whips retreated from Naruto's body. Naruto panted and looked up to Neji. He gave a feral grin. "Nice to have you back Neji-teme" he said. Neji smirked and unzipped the moss-colored vest.

"I think this belongs to you"

Sakura could only watch in awe as she saw Neji jump up and quickly move in front of Naruto. She watched as how his arms wove quickly with the wind and blocked Juugo's lethal cutting edge.

------

"Neji-kun!" she cried. She felt a presence behind her. Suigetsu snickered as he shoved the tip of a sharpened kunai against her back. "Tch, calling a Hyuga with an affectionate ending?" _"Comparing prodigies now, little blossom?"_ "How amusing" Suigetsu mocked.

Sakura's right eye twitched.

"Actually, I have my own taste" she said a little too sweetly. Suigetsu grinned as Sakura ducked and drove her own kunai into his chest. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she saw yellow slits of eyes and a beaming face slowly melt into clear water.

How do you fight someone who is water? Someone who get just dissolve in a matter of milliseconds? Sakura didn't have a hot pan and for once she seemed a little stumped.

Sakura snuck a glance over at Sasuke to see if he was alright. He was still out cold, but doing fine. Sakura felt two different pangs.

* * *

People screamed and hurried into their broken houses as the giant Satsugaikage made its way down the bloodied streets of Konoha. The giant dark wolf was quick and agile and managed to destroy buildings, trees, and nearly crushed people in its deadly paws.

Tsunade punched the earth again as a brown column of rocks rose out, blocking the giant monster. Jiraiya was summoning Gamabunta while Kakashi had his Nin dogs out. The stronger shinobi were all trying to stop the deadly beast.

Memories and images flashed threw her mind. Nawaki, Dan-they were dead during the Great Konoha War. It felt as if history was repeating itself.

Gamabunta spat some vulgar words at the giant wolf. He swung his yakuza sword towards the beast. The wolf dodged but was hit by some water balls and went staggering back. The sun was slowly going down and it would be dark any minute. Maybe the Sound would retreat. Gamabunta expertly swung again. The wolf clamped down on it with its long deadly teeth. Jiraiya formed some seals as white needles went flying towards Orochimaru.

Tsunade gritted her teeth and smashed the earth again, hearing a small rumble. She didn't dare to look into the yellow eyes that were enjoying every disgusting second.

* * *

Itachi had left with the Akatsuki and they were now heading back to the forest to get Naruto. "I want to fight the Jinchuuriki, yeah" Deidara said, pumping more chakra into his sandals. "Patience Deidara" was only the words Itachi could muster.

"Dreamy is going to be there" Kisame said. Deidara's ears perked up. "And so is that Hyuga brat" Kisame smirked, showing rows of his pointy teeth. "Your brother will be there too Itachi" he spoke.

"Hn"

"My brother will never defeat me"

'_He has something that I want'_

Deidara stopped on a weak tree limb. "Do you guys sense that, yeah?" Itachi and Kisame stopped as well. "Another chakra" Itachi murmured knowingly. "Konoha" Kisame snorted.

* * *

With every blow or strike Sakura made, Suigetsu would only smirk and disappear into water. Sakura felt another pang, this time greater. She grit her teeth. Mint eyes quickly stole a glance to see Naruto resting by Sasuke and Neji fighting Juugo. She noticed that Naruto was deathly pale and Sasuke was still out cold and covered in a little water from Suigetsu.

'_Damn, I need a strategy'_

'**Ever heard of fight water with water?'**

Sakura nodded inwardly and watched Suigetsu disappear again.

'_But water techniques would use up to much chakra; I'll be out for about ten minutes'_

'**Hey, we've got Neji and backup on the way, you've got to take the shot'**

'_But what if more enemies come?!'_

'**We have to take it'**

Sakura reluctantly nodded. She shot up in the air and threw an explosive tag on the ground. A boom was heard and smoke rose. Sakura took this as the time to summon the water from the freezing stream. She summoned a long thick strip and shot it at Suigetsu who was a little shaken by the detonation.

Suigetsu turned himself into water again. Both waters connected, sending freezing liquid everywhere. Sakura was drenched in water. Her pink hair was sopping wet and stuck to her cold face. Suigetsu fell to the ground as more water rushed everywhere like a tsunami.

'_I'm not done as yet'_

The water formed into a dragon and splashed everything. Suigetsu was flooded under the water, his eyes closed. With a flick of her hand, the water retreated back into the stream. Sakura threw some strong kunai made exclusively by Tenten with dead accuracy.

The kunai pinned down the soaked ends of Suigetsu's clothes to the ground. His eyes closed and went into a state of unconsciousness. Sakura carefully unpinned the weapons and with the last of her strength carried Suigetsu where Karin was. She tiredly tied their wrists and feet together with some brown rope.

Sakura felt Neji behind her and watched him tie Juugo down as well. Everyone was wet again.

She felt her eyes go blurry and Neji pick her up to go by the team.

"Neji-niisan!" Neji turned around to see Hinata running with wool blankets and towels. Neji dried himself off but refused to take a blanket. Sighing, Hinata covered Team Seven with the warm blue sheets. The two cousins sat in silence with closed eyes under the shade by their unconscious friends.

"The Akatsuki will be here in about twenty minutes" Hinata whispered softly. Her cousin nodded.

"We'll be ready"

"Everyone will be awake and have all their chakra restored"

Hinata nodded and lightly kissed Naruto on the forehead.

* * *

Tsunade felt Katsuyu explode into tiny slugs as acid splattered everywhere. Orochimaru's long tongue darted out and wrapped its slimy self around Tsunade. Anger flashing threw her eyes; she spun herself around and wiggled out. Killing intent was in her hazel orbs.

She had enough. She was the Godaime Hokage and she didn't want anymore killings. It was time to stop this. "You bastard!" she screamed, jumping towards him. Orochimaru smirked and whipped a sword out. He slashed Tsunade's body and then everything seemed to fade away. Orochimaru's vision blurred as he felt vines wrap around his legs and dead arms, pulling at them and making him yell.

"It's over Orochimaru" Tsunade voice's echoed. "Die"

"No, Orochimaru-sama!" "Kai!"

'_Kabuto'_

Slowly the genjutsu faded away and Orochimaru felt himself move. Tsunade and Kabuto began to physically fight one on one. The Satsugaikage hoisted him up and began to terrorize all over again.

* * *

"Itachi, I sense chakras only about five minutes away from here" Deidara stated, molding some grayish clay together.

"Hn"

Kisame licked his lips. "We have to hurry this up, Leader is not pleased" he said, bored.

Itachi didn't answer but only quickened the pace. He felt his feet jump off the tree limb and onto the familiar ground. It was wet and soggy. Itachi eyed the three Sound ninja crumpled in debris, tightly bound by thick rope.

'_Hn, my foolish brother is associated with this weaklings'_

He watched amused as Sasuke and Naruto groggily woke up. Sakura was already up, healing some minor wounds on Neji. Itachi felt a pang of jealousy run through him as her hands moved up his body, her eyes bright, and her lips curved upwards slightly.

He smirked as her smile disappeared. She whipped her head around to find the three Akatsuki members across from them.

"Damn" she stated as she injected an antidote for more chakra.

Sakura flexed her muscles as she heard a growl behind her. Sasuke clenched his fists and activated his Sharingan. "This time Itachi, I _will_ kill you!" he sneered.

"Hn" Itachi stated.

'_Hate me, detest me…'_

'_You lack, hatred'_

The two brothers lunged at each other, their kunai's clacking loudly. Naruto put an arm around Hinata possessively as he glared daggers at the two remaining Akatsuki members. "Hina-chan, please stay out unless you are needed, I don't want you to get hurt" he whispered softly. Hinata blushed and nodded.

Kisame swung his Sameheda expertly at Neji while Deidara went after Naruto.

Sakura looked around franticly.

'_I have to end all of this, I'm sick and tired'_

'_We have to go after Itachi and Sasuke'_

Sakura bit her lip. Sasuke already had a huge gash forming on his lower stomach, blood pooling out of the sandy gravel. Sakura raced after Itachi, ignoring Sasuke's shouts. Like Lee, Sakura used her taijutsu skills to battle Itachi. She kicked, jabbed, and punched whenever and wherever she could. Itachi grabbed her wrist and smirked. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Sakura!" "Get out of his grip!"

Sakura tried to wiggle out but his grip was as strong a vice. Itachi smirked as his eyes began to swirl red. Sasuke ran and reached out to pull Sakura away but all he felt was air.

The two disappeared into smoke and into a flurry of leaves.

* * *

Tsuzuku.

A:N-Only about three chapters left! Please check out Sakura Day for the spinoff-prequel. Reviews are highly appreciated!

Peace,

Shadowsakura321 P.S School starts tomorrow. No!

**PREVIEW FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER.**

**It was a beautiful forest outside northern Konoha and Sakura would love to come here under different circumstances. Itachi eyed the girl up and down. **

"**Time to fight" he said smoothly. He studied the girl's face. "Who would you choose?"**

"**The Akatsuki or Konoha?"**

**Sakura looked at the ground sadly. **

'**I can't love two'**


	23. Chapter 23

A:N-School has started so I'm sorry that I haven't updated lately! But I am kinda sad, no one likes Sakura Day? I'm working harder on that than Anata Wa so please r&R!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

'_Anata Wa…?'_

'_And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

It was a beautiful forest outside Northern Konoha and Sakura would have loved to come here under different circumstances. Itachi eyed the girl up and down.

"Time to choose" he said smoothly. He studied the girl's face. "Who would you choose?"

"The Akatsuki or Konoha?"

Sakura looked at the ground sadly. _'I can't love two'_

The air was damp and chilled. It was starting to get darker and darker by the second. Sakura looked at Itachi, his pose perfect-lukewarm, bored and unexcited. Sakura shyly approached him, her feelings had grown too strong and she couldn't bear the sexual tension between the two. It was like her heart was literally twisted. Itachi looked surprised for just a moment.

"I-I love you" she spoke quietly. "I will heal your eyes also" she added. Itachi's face really showed astonishment and…happiness? No, maybe it was just the moon. Sakura smiled. Her green eyes flickered towards the dirt.

"But" her tone was firm.

She looked up into Itachi's eyes and he himself felt strangely drawn into them. They looked pleading and scared but with a hint of determination and pure stubbornness. Itachi pictured the current Konohagakure Hokage and then Sakura herself, it was like they were pieces of a puzzle that connected perfectly together.

"You have to end this war" she said, half pleading, half serious. Sakura straightened herself up and mustered the coldest glare she could. She forced not to turn red as amused eyes stared back at her.

"You will never trouble the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki again" she said in a half whisper.

Itachi narrowed his eyes. He was expecting something around that nature to come from her mouth. Itachi felt himself then aroused but choose to ignore it, even though it was hard.

Sakura clenched her fists. "You have to never touch Naruto" she said threw gritted teeth. "I will join the Akatsuki, I would do anything so I could be with you" she whispered. She looked at his cool façade. The look in his eyes seemed to say that he was slowly taking all the information in.

"How do I know that you are not lying, _kunoichi?"_ Itachi spoke coolly.

Sakura nearly felt her heart split. He didn't have the respect to call her by her first name and yet here she was, facing her enemy and confessing her love for him? It was a cliché Sasuke, déjà vu thing all over again!

Itachi grinned…grinned but not smirked. "Sakura" his voice was slick and smooth. "How do I not know your lying?" he whispered, almost in a jokingly teasing kind of way.

'**Are we in some sort of alternate universe?' **

'_I really don't know, maybe'_

Sakura pecked him on the cheek, her lips lingering for just a moment. She ignored the soft, possessive growl he gave and smiled seductively at him. "I love Naruto like a brother" she said quietly. She glared at him "and you are never to harm him"

"…if you want to be with me" she whispered. The wind whipped her hair, blowing it across her emotional face. Her shoulders were slumped and her hands were lying by her sides. Sakura's clothes were ragged, bloody and burnt. Her face was coated in sweat, makeup and salt from tears. She felt horrible, but then again it was wartime.

'_Neji-kun'_

'_Sasuke'_

'_Naruto-kun'_

'_I love you all so much, but the way I feel about Itachi is different, even though it seems so weird'_

* * *

"_Sasuke-kun, I love you so much!!!"_

"_You're just jealous, you little whore" _

* * *

Sakura's pointer finger ran over her left thumb. A silver ring with three bands and five little stones was securely tightened. It was a deep friendship ring Naruto had gotten her after she had been crowned ANBU captains along with second-in-command Neji and third-in-command Shikamaru.

"_No matter what happens in our hectic shinobi life, we're going to get through everything together Sakura-chan…" _

She had made up her mind or so she thought. Could she, should she risk everything to be in the dark? Or could she forget about her savior and salvation to live a simple kunoichi life? Whatever Sakura chose in the next few seconds, it sure as hell wasn't going to be easy.

Itachi's eyes for once showed everything. Sakura watched as he silently disappeared, leaving her to stop everything.

* * *

The darkening sky was now slowly overlapping the crimson horizon, the want and need of sleep showing more in Konoha's population in every passing second. The purplish hues of the tall west mountains stood out in the dark scenery. Dim trees were outlined in the cloudless black sky, the small twinkles of stars barely showing.

Itachi was perched up in a tree overlooking the still fighting Konoha. His Akatsuki cloak wrapped around him, protecting him from the cold. Itachi ignored the small amount of pain and his dimming vision as he spotted Orochimaru amongst shinobi on top of the Satsugaikage.

He barely missed the narrow kunai that shot through the air so fast, you could almost hear the air shrink.

Itachi landed on top of the Satsugaikage's head. He examined the summon and saw it looked very tired and unhealthy. Tsunade was on the ground, breathing hard while Jiraiya and Gamabunta struggled. Shinobi aligned the streets either passed out or dead. Buildings were collapsed and debris were scattered. It was getting colder. He looked over the damaged city and thought that they were in some sort of film and not in the horrible reality.

"Orochimaru, we have to retreat" Itachi spoke deeply. Orochimaru chuckled and licked his lips. His yellow eyes stood out in the dark making him look even more sinister.

"Oh?" "And why is that Itachi-kun?" he asked.

"I've heard that some Konoha and Suna shinobi are preparing a special attack, I've also heard that more reinforcements will be arriving shortly" He paused for a chaste moment.

"We would be clearly outnumbered and out of shape, our forces will crumble in a matter of minutes" he said coolly.

Orochimaru nodded in agreement as leaned down to whisper something in the Satsugaikage's ear. The wolf nodded and gave an ear-splitting howl. For a moment Itachi felt as if blood was soon going to poor down his ear. He wrinkled his nose at the strong stench as that began to happen to various ninja alike.

Itachi watched as Orochimaru's very own faithful minions collapsed to the earth and screaming, blood dripping down their cartilages and earlobes. It was disgusting and pathetic.

'_He sacrifices his own shinobi and yet expects to come out victorious, how weak'_

Itachi's eyes flickered back to onyx as he threw multiple kunai attached secretly with invisible chakra strings as well as explosive tags to the ground. The sound shinobi took this as some kind of sign. Konoha shinobi struggled to get out of the way from the upcoming aerial attack. A blood-soaked, emotionally paralyzed Tsunade felt hands wrap around her and heave up from the destruction.

Explosives triggered as heavy gray smoke filled the air. The sky was pitch-black, cloudless and starless. It was freezing and most people were covered in blood.

For the last time, the Satsugaikage vanished with the Otogakure shinobi.

Hinata dodged the mischievous clay spiders. She ran on various branches and dodged Deidara's weapons. Hinata quickly jumped down as two spiders attached to kunai embedded themselves in a branch. Hinata summoned shadow clones and then vanished. Deidara looked mad. _'I don't have time for this!'_

Bright blue eyes widened as a hand cracked from the earth. Hinata appeared beneath him and kicked him, sending Deidara flying. She rained katana's, kunai, and shuriken down on him and reflected his defense moves with her very own Hakkesho Kaiten.

----

Naruto had radioed from the battlefield and had said that everything was fine. The Akatsuki was clearly outnumbered so Sasuke could go after Itachi without causing that much of a riot surprisingly.

He raced throughout the damp dark forest silently. His teeth were clenched tightly and his hands were balled up into fists. Sasuke followed the almost undetectable chakra sense north. Quickly activating his Sharingan, he sped faster, hoping to reach there before someone close to him died.

* * *

It was like it was happening in slow motion. All of Otogakure retreated from the critically destroyed Konoha, the remaining Akatsuki members disappeared after hearing some sort of signal and Sakura was cuddling in Itachi's arms as they watched the dark sky under the canvas of thick trees in the blackened forest.

Right now to Sakura, this seemed to be the most serene and peaceful place to be. She was in her love's arms, away from all the chaos and gore, a peaceful silence lingering as they silently treasured each other's company.

Itachi lifted his head from the crook of Sakura's neck, his eyes alert and shifting back to his Sharingan. Sakura sensed his insecurity and slight fear. The whole atmosphere suddenly changed, nothing-_NOTHING_ was supposed to ruin this.

Sakura's hands curled into fists. "What's wrong?" she asked her voice on the brink of cracking.

"Foolish little brother" Itachi seethed, quickly picking up his unsheathed katana.

Sakura cursed. _'Sasuke!' 'He's going to hate me, his dream will be crushed, his craving won't happen…'_

Sakura shut her eyes as she heard a loud growl and then the heat of flames.

* * *

Tsunade's eyes were wide and full of panic. Was this a trick? Were they recruiting more, stronger ninja? Where was Orochimaru?!

Saki and Ino came running towards the Godaime, who had a towel wrapped around her shoulders and was sitting on a concrete block that looked like it used to be part of a giant bench.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed at the sight of a Sound forehead protector. "You…" she said, her voice cold and mustering pure hate. Saki's eyes widened as she held her hands shakily up in defense.

"P-Please!" she begged.

Tsunade snarled but a hand clamped firmly on her shoulder.

"Calm yourself Tsunade, control your nasty temper and listen!" Jiraiya's tone was fierce.

Ino's eyes were wide at the two Sannin, deadly auras emitting from both of their tired bodies.

She rushed over in front of Saki and raised her hands to reason. "H-Hai Hokage-sama!" "S-Saki is a s-sound rebel, she is related to Sakura!" Ino reasoned, terrified of the Hokage's temper at a time like this.

Tsunade seemed to relax after the mention of her apprentice's name. She shuffled her feet and laid back in a Shikamaru sort of way, her eyes fixed squarely at Saki.

"Explain yourself" "Now"

Saki nodded and tucked the pieces of hair that fell from her messy ponytail behind her earlobes.

"Other than Kabuto-san, I am usually Orochimaru-sama's main strategist" She nodded gratefully as a medic-nin brought her a bottle of fresh water. Saki sat down on the dirtied ground along with Ino, their ANBU vests tattered with stains and blood. Saki cleared her throat to continue.

"I made the plans to attack from Konoha as well as the location where Orochimaru-sama could summon the Satsugaikage" With a fluid motion, she completely unzipped her vest, tore off her headband and let her hair loose. "I was born in Konoha when I was very young but I was reluctantly taken along with my parents on a mission to Kumogakure" "It was when Sandaime-sama was still Hokage"

Her light green eyes saddened. Ino looked surprised for a second, "Sandaime-sama let a child accompany her parents on a mission?" She brought her knees up to her chest and swiped some blood off the ground. "That seems highly unlikely for Sandaime-sama to order" she said, titling her head.

Saki nodded, her face loosing its glow and looking more depressed. "It was when Kumogakure was hosting the chuunin exams but Konoha expected foul play, especially since they didn't want any foreign adults to accompany the shinobi across Sunagakure and Tsuchigakure to arrive into Kumogakure"

Saki's nose wrinkled. "My parent's were supposed to pose as a poor couple who moved with their infant daughter from Konoha" "Then, they would try to get the political aspects about what Kumogakure was hiding but…"

"…if anything slipped out, Kumogakure would launch a battalion against Konoha" Tsunade finished.

Saki nodded "…as thus, it would start another Ninja War"

Ino sighed and looked relieved as she glanced around the fields. "Thank god that didn't happen" she murmured.

Tears began to form in the ducts of Saki's mint eyes. "Kumogakure found out and killed my parents" "I was with one of Sandaime-sama's undercover agents in the marketplace" "That's…when Orochimaru attacked"

Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged glances.

But Saki was actually smiling at the end. She sniffled.

"He took me and ever since I remembered, I've always been raised in the Sound"

Ino gasped. "H-How did you find out about your family?"

Saki shrugged. "Newspapers, I definitely saw Sakura in the bingo books, also me and Sasuke-san worked together a lot so I knew I was related to her, even when he said things about Sakura"

"And then you know it's ironic because, _I'm actually on Konoha's side_" She looked at Tsunade. "You're sensei sent my parents on a mission that he knew would kill them" she said boldly. Tsunade's eyes widened.

Saki wrung her hands together. "I'm all alone" her voice was bland. She looked up at the Sannin. "Did he want me to be an orphan?" her voice was small.

She sniffled again. "I came back when I grew older, to visit Sakura and my aunt and uncle" Tears were now very visible and were rolling down her cheeks.

"I opened the door…and there were Sakura's dead parents!" Saki began to sob.

"I-I swore, I-I w-would never-r come back a-again"

Ino looked at Saki. _'She's been through so much'_ she thought sadly. It broke her heart to hear sob stories from such young people. Everyone should have a family.

* * *

Sasuke and Itachi fought fiercely taijutsu. Their movements were so fast, so secure that Sakura's eyes could barely follow. Sakura watched Itachi stagger back, a kunai in his shoulder, almost missing his jugular vein. Sakura gave an audible gasp. _'No!' 'I don't want neither of them to die!' _

'_Why?' 'Why can't I just be happy?' 'Why does everything bad always have to happen to ME?!' she may have sounded selfish, but she didn't care. The past months, the past weeks and days have all revolved around her…and something usually bad always happened._

Sakura lunged for Sasuke, a kunai in hand. Sasuke's eyes were wild and confused. She flung a kunai which he easily deflected. "Sakura?" "What are you doing?!" "Get out of my way!" Sasuke yelled angrily.

Sakura ignored him and reappeared in-front of Itachi.

"Sasuke, Orochimaru's gone-Konoha won" she whispered.

Sasuke stood, frozen. "W-What?"

Sakura nodded "hai, Itachi, Itachi made them go away"

Sasuke clenched his fists. "Itachi's a killer" he seethed.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Aren't we all?!" she retorted back. Sasuke was quiet.

"We are all shinobi, it is our job to kill" she said blankly.

Sasuke stared at her disbelievingly. "S-Sakura?" "Can you even listen to yourself?" "That bastard, murdered my family!" he gave an anguished scream. Pictures of the cops, of their decaying dead bodies, of Sasuke crying, flashed into his mind and wouldn't stop.

"Sasuke, go kill Orochimaru" "The Sound will fall, Itachi will never order them to come back, can't you understand that?!" "Konoha is safe!" Sakura was panting. Itachi stood behind her, stunned.

Her mouth settled in a grim line. "Sasuke, we both know how it feels to loose people we hold dear in our hearts" She paused for a minute to catch her breath. "We don't want any other child experiencing the trauma that you've been through" she said softly. It was pitch dark outside and the other light came from the silver crescent moon and the small chidori Sasuke had.

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan. "Itachi, Itachi caused the trauma" "Itachi, Itachi caused the trauma" He kept on repeating the phrase.

'_Itachi, Itachi caused the trauma'_

Sasuke looked up. "How do you love...him?" his voice cracked and was on the trail to defeat. He had lost. Itachi had won, again. And now Sakura…Sakura actually trusted him?

Sakura was quiet. "I, I just do"

Sasuke's eyes hardened. "I'm sorry Sakura"

She and Itachi exchanged glances. Sakura clasped her hands over her chest. "S-Sasuke?" "Nani?" "Stop talking nonsense" she chided, trying to convince everyone.

'_I wouldn't call it a dream…a goal…a goal to kill one man…'_

Sasuke's eyes began to spin bloody red again. "Itachi can't love, he doesn't know what love is, and he thinks it's _weak_!"

'_You lack…hatred'_

"He stopped the war" Sakura whispered.

"He made my life a living hell!!" Sasuke spat back. His arm reached over to his back to pull out his sharpened Kusanagi sword.

'_You told me that solitude was painful!'_

'_Sakura…thank you'_

"So, what are you going to do?" Sakura challenged, she was right in front of his brother protecting_ both_ of them for god's sake!!

'_Hate me, detest me'_

Sasuke grabbed his sword. "Kill him"

"Chidori Nagashi!" Electricity shot all over Sasuke's body and on his sword, reflecting and giving Sakura almost a blinding light. The dark forest lit up as Sakura screamed.

Itachi was in front of her in a second, she reached out to pull his cloak back, causing them to both loose balance.

'_Dear Kami, what…what have I done?'_

* * *

-**Tsuzuku-**

**A-N- SAKURA DAY IS THE **_**SPINOFF, not the sequel.**_** The point is that if Sakura did not take the mission in the first place, what would happen? Would she and Itachi still be together, and if so how? So, basically A.W and S.D are in different realities but I won't update Anata Wa until I get more people reviewing and looking into Sakura Day, please believe me-I think you guys will like it. **

**Reviews are greatly appreciated, until next time,**

**-Shadowsakura321**

_**NEW STORIES ALERTS**_

_**-Caliento Corazones-**_

_**Uchiha Sasuke, the leader of a deadly Spanish Harlem gang. Haruno Sakura, an innocent struggling college student trying to get past the bumps in her tangled life. When they collide on the feared streets, what will happen[SasSaku**_

_**-How I Feel-**_

_**They lived in the ninja world of demise and perish. As the Akatsuki embarks on another goal, an S-rank mission leads Sakura and Neji to feel trapped in a love twilight zone. [NejiSaku (MY PERSONAL FAVORITE)**_

_**-They will be posted soon- **_


	24. Chapter 24

_A:N:-_**How I Feel** has now been posted; **Caliento Corazones** will be posted soon my SasSaku fans!!! I saw more things about Sakura Day, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED, see I told you would like it-please keep em coming! Also, I **might**,I repeat I might make a sequel!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Pairing: ItaSaku

_Italics-Thoughts or flashbacks or possibly song lyrics_

**Bold-Inner Sakura**

Summary: Haruno Sakura goes undercover as ANBU Ishida Yume to get closer to Uchiha Itachi of the infamous Akatsuki. But how will Itachi act around Yume? And more importantly, how will he react when he finds out that Yume is really his brother's former teammate? ItaSaku.

'_Anata Wa…?'_

'_And You Are…?'_

_By: Shadowsakura321_

* * *

Red was everywhere, it was a split second decision. Blood splattered on Sakura's already disgusting clothes as Itachi dropped to the ground. Her eyes widened as she stretched out her arms and ran to catch him. With her monstrous strength, she cradled him in her arms as she drooped down to the soil. She saw Sasuke's sword gradually retreat as the static light began to fade away. It was now completely black except for the moon.

Sakura pressed her head against Itachi's chest. _'There's a heartbeat, thank god!' _Sakura opened his Akatsuki vest to reveal a black mesh shirt underneath. She winced at the tremendous amount of damage Sasuke had done. Sakura grit her teeth.

'_Itachi has a ton of injuries, Sasuke only missed a vital point by a few millimeters, and it's astonishing that he's still even alive…'_

There was a large gash on his lower stomach, blood pooling out by the second. Itachi's forehead was hot and sweaty, his fever very high. He also had red cuts and bruises on his hands and wrists. A deep, large scar had reopened and his right arm was twisted back in a way that could only mean that the bone was snapped.

'_This weather isn't helping, kuso!' _

Sakura began to work intensively on the big gash. Her hands injected blue chakra into Itachi's blood cells. The chakra would make more white cells to generate the dead skin and fight off upcoming bacteria and diseases that the wound could contract.

She pressed her palms against his chest and started to heal the internal bleeding. Sakura checked to see it any of his major organs were hit. Luckily, nothing was and his heartbeat was starting to steady. Sakura saw his chest rise slowly up and down as a sign of constant steady breathing. She patched up the dead cells and regenerated some skin and tissue. Sakura fixed a cut vein and then stopped the bleeding completely in the gash.

Thankfully, Sakura always had a small medical kit in her weapons pouch. This would save her some chakra when fixing other cuts. She took out some stitches and gauze tape. Sakura began to work on the reopening bruises on his knuckles and hands. She wrung a towel and made a simple hand-seal for it to wet.

Like a mother, she put the cold cloth on Itachi's head and wiped a few strands away from his face. His fever was still high but would calm down.

Sakura then noticed his broken arm. Using her skills, Sakura made a firm sling and gently put it around Itachi's broken bone. She then inserted a tiny bit of chakra to ease the pain and speed up the healing.

Sakura sighed and covered him with his thick wool Akatsuki cloak. She craned her neck to see Sasuke slumped on the ground, red eyes squarely fixed on her. She shuddered and shakily stood up. Sakura felt Sasuke's eyes trail her every step she made.

She crouched by him, their bodies very close. Sakura lifted a hand and put it on Sasuke's shoulder comfortingly, Sasuke shrugged it away. Sakura sighed and massaged her temples.

"Sasuke…?"

"Hn" His tone was soft, but it sounded rough and uncertain.

Sakura kissed his forehead. "Sasuke, its over" she whispered in her motherly tone. Sasuke glared at her and then looked over at his sleeping older brother.

"You saved _him_" Sasuke spat. "What are you going to do know Sakura?" "Become a missing-nin and run off with my sibling?" he asked bitterly.

Sasuke looked at her expectantly. "Huh?" he said, louder.

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a loud yell.

"Sakura-chan!" "Sasuke-teme!" Naruto, Neji, and Hinata came running over from the treetops.

Naruto put his arms on knees. "W-We found you!" he panted.

Neji's eyes flickered towards the elder Uchiha. Sakura saw his glance.

"He stopped the war, he made Orochimaru retreat" Sakura whispered. She glanced lovingly at Itachi.

Both Neji and Naruto looked at her as if she was mad. Hinata saw the way Sakura looked at Itachi. She gave a half-smile.

'_I respect your decision Sakura'_ Milky eyes wandered over to the two men standing by the tired looking Sasuke and Sakura.

'_But will they?' 'What are you going to do?'_

Reluctantly, Neji picked up Itachi while Naruto grabbed Sasuke. They sped up into the dark forest, Naruto boasting that he could make it to Konoha first. Hinata and Sakura was a couple of branches away from the boys, talking in a half-whisper quietly.

Hinata twiddled her thumbs, going back to her old self once again. "Do you love him Sakura?" she asked softly. Sakura nodded and smiled.

"I do Hinata-chan, I-I really do" she murmured. She fiddled with her ring. "But I don't know what to do; I'm in love with an S-rank criminal!"

Tears welled in her eyes as she thought about her village, destroyed. Her thoughts drifted to Sasuke, Itachi had ruined her "first love's" life. She mentally scolded at herself.

'_Sasuke was an infatuation, a crush-I love him, but in a Naruto-like way'_

Hinata patted her best friend soothingly. "I do not think they will execute Itachi, he saved Konoha"

"Where is Orochimaru?" Sakura's voice was barely audible as she stole another glance at Itachi, daring not to meet Neji's eyes.

Hinata shrugged and looked at her cousin and boyfriend. "I don't know, when we were fighting them, they just disappeared"

Sakura grinned. "Maybe they gave up" she joked.

* * *

Kabuto finished stitching up a badly wounded shinobi and then proceeded to heal his own sprained ankle and cracked rib. He pushed his glasses up with his middle finger and looked over at Orochimaru who was sitting on a chair, arms lifeless by his sides.

"We have a traitor" Orochimaru stated.

Kabuto nodded "that Saki girl, if it's even her real name betrayed us, betrayed you Orochimaru-sama" he said.

Three people walked into the cave, the light shining brightly and contrasting their torn dark clothes. Orochimaru craned his pale neck to see Kisame and Sasori. Deidara was behind Kisame, meddling with his clay bombs. They all looked very bored.

Orochimaru smirked. "Oh?" "Now what is this?" he asked his voice dry of sarcasm.

Deidara snorted. "Do you really think Pein-sama would ever negotiate with a traitor like you Orochimaru, yeah?" he asked. Orochimaru looked surprised. No one had ever heard Deidara use such a fierce, gangster tone.

Kisame looked at Orochimaru and sighed. "You betrayed the Akatsuki, we would never work with pitiful people like yourself, _and you're a waste of time_" he said, emphasizing the last piece. Orochimaru's gaze hardened as he managed to clench his swollen wrists. Not intimidated, Orochimaru took a step forward.

"I left the Akatsuki to become stronger and pursue other things" he said threw gritted teeth.

"You left…because, you were scared" Sasori added monotonously. "You were scared of Itachi, you could not defeat him and you will never" Sasori paused to continue. "You were my partner, but now I finally realize, you're nothing but some weakling"

Kabuto listened intently, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Orochimaru eyed the Akatsuki members. "What will you do?" he asked, long tongue darting out. Kisame easily dodged his tongue flickering at him tauntingly. Kisame growled and lifted him arm to get his sword. Sasori stopped him and Kisame's hand reluctantly drew back.

"Konoha is soon to fall, Oto has done plenty of damage" Orochimaru rasped evilly, a grin forming on his sinister face. A large green snake slithered by his leg and wrapped itself around his calf. It bared its venomous fangs at the Akatsuki and gave a low hiss.

Kisame ignored the snake and this time swung his sword directly at Orochimaru. Deidara lunged at Kabuto who was injured at had the great disadvantage at the time being. Sasori easily defeated rows of sound shinobi using his one hundred puppet technique.

"Why, why are you on their side now?" Orochimaru yelled, fighting one-on-one with Kisame. Kisame barely dodged a punch aimed for his face as the two crashed knuckles together a second time. He reappeared behind Orochimaru and quickly stabbed a kunai into his back. Orochimaru literally melted into ink. Kisame stared in horror. The black ink began to form into multiple pythons as they slithered around his legs and up his sword. They began to choke him.

Kisame felt saliva fill his mouth as his lungs began to give out from the lack of oxygen. It felt as if the air, the world was closing in and he was like a boat, capsizing into the freezing ocean depths. His joints connecting his arms to his shoulders began to ache and Kisame swore he heard a _'crack!'_ He heard another hissing sound before his eyes rolled in the back of his head, but he was sure it was not a snake.

A puppet whizzed by him. Kisame felt the binds on him and the crawling snakes fade away. His bones still hurt very much and he supported himself with his Sameheda. Kisame's eyes widened at what he saw before him.

Both of Kabuto's arms were twisted back as he was on his knees and his face was planted in the ground, lifeless and blood pooling from his corpse.

Orochimaru was lying on the ground, his neck slit wide open as blood pooled eerily out of the cut. His yellow eyes were wide open as his long tongue curled outside his gaping mouth. Since he had recently switched bodies, his was decaying quicker.

Kisame was waiting for a scene right out of a horror movie, like Orochimaru's eye would pop out of its socket or you would see the flesh burning away and slowly peeling away from his face, showing the outline of a skeleton. Kisame inwardly cringed. A disgusting stench filled the cave as Deidara pinched his nose to ignore it.

The sound shinobi stood agape as both of their leaders' fallen, dead lifeless bodies on the stone of the natural cave floor. Some yelled and ran towards the Akatsuki members who easily died, and some just stood in solemnity. The air was thick with tension as Deidara coughed and broke the silence.

"I don't know what you all will do know, yeah" "You could try to rebuild Otogakure but that would be a total waste of time, yeah" He grinned. "Dispose of yourselves, you're not needed on this earth anymore" he said, voice drifting. His words seemed to pierce the hearts and souls of the remaining ninja. They had lost, their empire, their leaders were gone from this world forever.

Sasori glanced at some fairy young Otogakure ninja. He did not know why this question popped into his mind but it was nagging at him.

"Do any of you have families?" he inquired. Eyes narrowed as some shifted very uncomfortably. The air grew moist and cold from the outside darkness.

Kisame turned around to face his partners. Sasori nodded and looked quickly at the new Sound outcasts.

The three disappeared into smoke as a silence lingered on the last of the Otogakure ninja.

* * *

Naruto gave Sasuke an icepack as he held up on his head. Naruto unzipped his ANBU vest and drank some water. He was still in shock. The damage was like a hurricane and then an earthquake followed by a mini-war. Rubble and debris covered the forests, the streets, everywhere.

Buildings were crushed and whatever was left of them was slanted. Blood stains coated the ground as well as all different kinds of weapons. Thankfully, the Hokage mansion, most neighborhoods of houses, and the forest grounds were all in good condition except for weapons and debris.

Naruto stared at his village population. Almost everyone was covered in wool blankets and was crying. The hospital was a gigantic mess and injured medics and shinobi were scattered. People were quiet and just stared at the damage the Ninja War had done.

'_How are we going to fix this?'_

Naruto silently sat next to his best friend on a cement block. It was completely dark now except for the moon and a couple of stars. Clouds were slowly coming out and were like little fuzzy of dark wool on a sheet.

Naruto followed Sasuke's dark glare to the unconscious Itachi. Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura, and onlookers surrounded him as Tsunade worked on his body. Naruto's gaze saddened as he looked at Sakura. Her eyes were blank and he could tell she was freezing even though she had insisted she wasn't-Sakura wanted the blankets to go to the civilians and the kids. Naruto smiled.

He scratched his head sheepishly and looked around for his girlfriend. Naruto would openly admit, he was scared out of his wits about Hinata fighting. He let out a sigh of relief to see her chatting with her father and some other Hyuga clan members. Neji was stalking somewhere off, Tenten trying to sooth him.

'_Maybe Neji-teme would see now that Sakura-chan isn't the girl for him, the girl he wants has been with him ever since he was a genin…'_

His eyes wandered to Itachi. _'So this is the guy Sakura-chan loves?'_ he asked himself sadly.

His shoulders slumped. _'I guess I can't stop true love'_

* * *

_Meguru meguru toki no naka de_

_Bokutachi wa ikite nanika wo shiru_

_Toki ni warai sukoshi naite_

_Kyou mo mata aruki tsudukete yuku_

_Meguru meguru toki no naka de_

_Bokutachi wa ai wo sagashite iru_

_Tsuyoku tsuyoku naritai kara_

_Kyou mo takai sora miagete iru _

The first thing Uchiha Itachi saw when he opened his obsidian eyes was a very worried face gleaming bright in the moonlight. Her green eyes were wide, her hands clasped over her heart as if silently praying, and her hair tied up in a high ponytail giving him a perfect view of the worried sweat that trailed down her pale face.

"Itachi…" her voice trailed off as she wrapped her arms around him tightly.

He ignored the pain and relaxed in his lover's warm motherly embrace. For a moment, none other than Uchiha Mikoto flashed threw his mind but he dare not think of her every again.

He felt the Hokage's gaze on him. He also felt her chakra aura and was anticipating whether to kill him or free him. Itachi smirked, blooding rolling down his lower lip. He felt a small hand quickly swipe the crimson trail away and then pull him closer. Itachi grunted, buried his head in her neck, and inhaled her scent. Sakura gently pried her hands away from his waist and made sure he'd lie down.

Sakura looked at her shisou expectantly. Tsunade's eyes were mixed with a bunch of emotions. A low sigh escaped from her lips as the Godaime slumped and looked at the S-rank criminal.

"Tsunade-shisou…-" Sakura stopped talking and looked almost apologetically at her. Tsunade raked a hand threw her tangled blonde locks and leaned her head against Jiraiya's broad shoulders.

"This one Sakura, I will have to talk to you…" Tsunade whispered. She looked around to find pairs of eyes on her and ears perked to tune into her conversation with her beloved apprentice. She huffed.

"…privately" she finished.

Sakura nodded, smiled and lightly kissed Itachi on the cheek publicly. She ignored the chakra sparks and asked Shizune and Jiraiya to watch him. Reluctantly, they agreed too. Tsunade and Sakura walked along the destructed pathway. Sakura didn't meet her teammates gaze or Neji's. She smoothed her hair and looked quizzically at Tsunade. "What is it Tsunade-sensei?" she asked, adding the affectionate suffix.

Tsunade looked at her student and felt a pang in her heart. "Sakura…what do you expect me to say to you?" she questioned, firm and bold. Sakura sighed and rubbed some smudged makeup away from her sweaty face.

"Tsunade-shisou, I love him" Sakura whispered. No tears fell, no shaky, unsure tone…

Tsunade bit her lip. "Is this what you do, _fall in love_ with every criminal you're supposed to be_ against_?" she said, harsher than it was supposed to be. Sakura's face looked hurt for a moment. She lowered her head, pink locks framing her face as she murmured something inaudible. Tsunade's features softened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way" she apologized.

Sakura managed to smile. "It's okay; it's not like everyday your daughter-like student runs off with an Akatsuki member, huh?" Sakura mirrored her harshness. Tsunade sighed and raised her hands up in defense.

"I made a mistake Sakura, but think for just a minute" She paused to continue. "Would you risk your wonderful home, friends and family to just be with Itachi?" she asked softly.

Sakura nodded. "Hai, Tsunade-shisou" she replied quietly.

Tsunade didn't hear a bit of insecurity in her student's voice. She straightened up her figure. "But…what will you do, kill innocent people?"

"Tsunade-shisou!" she cut in sharply.

"Sorry…but you just met_ her_, would you want to leave_ her_ all alone again?" Tsunade moved back and Sakura saw Saki chatting with Ino as they picked up glass and broken rubble.

Sakura sucked in a breath. "Tsunade-shisou, please do not make me choose" she whispered.

Tsunade felt like yelling. "But you are going to have too Sakura!" "Listen" "Think" "Who do you want to be with?" she nearly shouted angrily.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Itachi" she said. She watched her former sensei digest the news.

Tsunade looked purely crestfallen. She cleared her throat. "If that's what you want, you…may leave whenever you desire" Tsunade nodded at her apprentice, her_ daughter_ as she disappeared into the sea of people. Sakura must have looked like an idiot, standing there shivering in the night surrounded by hardworking people. She heard a soft 'hn' and turned around. In a flash, she was by his side, tenderly wiping the blood that still rolled down his bruised lips.

"Hey" she whispered.

"…Hey"

I'm feeling blue, let's work things out  
Cos I don't know what to do

And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket  
But I've got to get a move on with my life

Sakura sighed and followed Itachi's gaze to Tsunade, Ino, and Saki. "Are you leaving?" he asked.

"Am I going to be accepted into the Akatsuki?"

"Hn" Sakura smiled. She knew it was a yes.

"What…what are we going to do?"

Itachi leaned back and pulled his cloak to shield himself from the cold weather. He looked up at the stars and the bright moon. Protectively, he put an arm around Sakura's petite shoulders and pulled her close. Sakura shut her eyes relaxingly.

"Kisame will be arriving shortly" Itachi stated. Sakura nodded and spread some chapstick across her dry lips.

"I have to help with the damage" she whispered. She saw Itachi's eyes darken. "But don't worry, I'll meet up with you" she finished sweetly. "I will miss everyone" she whispered, looking at Tsunade and then her two former teammates. She watched Kakashi and Anko pick up cement blocks and pieces of scrap wood from various buildings. Sakura saw Naruto help gather broken ramen bowls and chopsticks.

"How will you tell the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, _Sakura_?" Her name felt like a foreign word on his tongue, but he enjoyed it.

Sakura shrugged in his embrace. She snuggled closer to the wool material of the Akatsuki cloak. "I will leave without notice, Tsunade-shisou will only know" she said quietly. Itachi nodded and began to get up. Sakura quickly sprang to her feet and helped steady him. Itachi immediately noticed Kisame's presence.

"I will be back for you"

His last words lingered in her mind as Sakura nodded, enveloping him in one last hug. She felt him stiffen momentarily before snaking his hands around her waist. Sakura sensed eyes on herself but really didn't care. Slowly she let go of him as Itachi turned around and disappeared.

She felt Naruto's chakra level drop into a level of sadness. Sasuke didn't even want to glance at her. Ino and Saki were off somewhere as well as Kakashi. Tsunade looked off at her student and then got back to work.

And then Sakura suddenly felt alone. Even though she was surrounded in a pile of trash with people she knew around her, she felt all by herself. It was like a big hole had come and transported her somewhere dark. As she felt Itachi leave her, Sakura wrapped her arms around her self and silently cried.

"_I've always been acting like a grownup ninja"_

"_And I've been saying that I love Sasuke-kun"_

"_And I always lectured Naruto like I was better than him"_

"_But all I've been doing was watching their backs"_

"_Still…"_

"_This time…_

"_Everyone please watch my back"_

* * *

_Tsuzuku._

_The next chapter will be the second to last or last. I am thinking about writing a sequel called I Am Me. Please gimme some feedback to say what you think. The first song is BoA's Every Heart and the second one is Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry Remix. Personally, I loved this chapter!_

_I just got my braces and I feel as if I wanna cry cause I look like an Indian nerd. I've had a really stressful depressing week lately. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed for me, I love everyone!!_

_Anyways, please review!_

_Shadowsakura321_


	25. Bitersweet Ending

**In a time of desperate needs.**

**What is there to take?**

No one would understand her. She was in love with a murderer. He had killed so many people, taken so many innocent lives that how was she, how was she supposed to put that behind her and love him? Pein-sama had taken an interest in her after the Great Konoha War, he was thinking of her joining the Akatsuki.

Konoha was dark, and full of garbage. A fleck of silver, a little sliver of the moon shone darkly against the black sky. Sakura stood by the two green Konoha gates, holding her breath.

Naruto would hate her. Ino would sadden, and then forget her. Saki would try to see where she went wrong, and then eventually hate her with great lust.

….

Sasuke would despise her.

How would Tsunade be able to manage? She had let Sakura leave, not looking back.

_All of my memories keep you near.  
In silent moments,  
Imagining you here.  
All of my memories keep you near.  
In silent whispers, silent tears._

Together in all these memories,  
I see your smile.  
All of the memories I hold dear.  
Darling you know I'll love you,  
Til the end of time.

All of my memories keep you near  
In silent moments,  
Imagining you here.  
All of my memories keep you near,  
In silent whispers, silent tears.

All of my memories...

The war had ended, yet no one had been the same after. The side effects worsened every day, and many shinobi who had been in combat had been severely mentally wounded. Sasuke was no where to be found again, and it was said that he had reunited with Team Snake in the land of the Waves to continue their hunt for the Akatsuki, mainly Itachi.

Sakura cringed. Would Sasuke hesitate to kill her? No. Any bonds they once shared had been permanently cut.

Fresh tears filled her eyes and she sighed, leaning against the gates. It was around one in the morning, and Konoha oddly seemed peaceful at night though gory images plagued her nightmares.

No,

They were her nightmares.

Tonight she was leaving to be with him. Sakura shut her eyes and imagined him, his masculine scent, gleaming red Sharingan…

She loved with he kissed her left shoulder blade, nipping and caressing. She thought of his lips pressed softly-but firmly against hers and Sakura sniffled. Her pink hair was braided, and her emerald eyes were darker; with rings of gray lines under them. She stood in her regular ninja attire, except for her missing hitai-ate. She had wrapped it around her wrist, but couldn't find the courage to slash it as yet.

The air was getting colder now, damp and chilly. Sakura stiffened visibly, where was Itachi? He _had _promised to be here after all. But then again, this was him, and who was to say he would abide by rules even with loved ones?

What if…he had played her all along? Getting the most famous medic-nin on evil's side would be great.

She shook her head, ignoring the protests of her mental self. He would never do that, they had already been through enough.

Sakura gasped out in sudden pain.

"I'm not letting you leave Sakura."

She turned around, eyes blazing. "Who's to say you have the right…Naruto?"

Her eyes softened. Naruto stood lean and tall about five feet from her, a kunai in one hand. Another had expertly been thrown, embedded in Sakura's right shoulder. Blood oozed from the cut but amazingly, Sakura's body began to heal itself, blue chakra glowing, healing and easing the cut as if it had been a fly.

He looked at her roughly. "Sakura-chan, when I become Rokudaime and declare you a missing-nin….ANBU teams with come after you and the Akatsuki. And if you refuse to cooperate or kill them, another count of treason will be added to your ninja profile for Konoha. …How can you expect to live a happy life on the run?" His voice cracked.

Sakura looked at him softly and grinned. "I won't let them get you if that's what you're saying and if you think that I would ever, **ever **cooperate in something so vulgar…it seems you might have never known me after all."

"They'll hurt you!" He glared at her. "Why can't you understand that?!"

Sakura turned sharply towards him, a warning. "You don't know them Naruto."

Naruto trembled. "In my time of need, I couldn't see, the whispers, the warnings so clear. There's no remorse Sakura, because you still remember, the smile when Orochimaru tore Sasuke apart. That's where it all began…"

"People deceived us from the start. You showed me dreams, I wish they would turn into real." He paused and looked at her intently.

Sakura tilted her head. "You broke a promise, and I realized it was all just a lie." She whispered.

'_He's getting crazy. Could he break down and have a panic attack?' _Like a personal heart monitor, Sakura felt his heartbeat change, chakra ranges spiraling out of control…waiting to break. He was perspiring profusely, his eyes sad but wild. The warning was so clear, no mercy no more.

Where was her sparkling black and red angel of deceit? Maybe she would loose it too.

No.

"What promise?" he whispered meekly.

"…you promised everything would be alright."

Naruto stood there, chest rising, eyes dark with fury. He took a step towards her and instinctively, Sakura stepped back. She could feel his chakra levels; feel his rage coursing through his veins.

"Are you saying that everything here…is my fault? After everything I had done, or tried to do?" he was angry now. Was he not good enough? Hell, if Sasuke couldn't please her, if Neji couldn't, what could a Jinchuuriki do?

She looked at him coldly. "You're delusional Naruto."

He sighed. "If you can't be happy with any of your loved ones here in Konoha, then fine, fine, be happy with a _murderer_, a cold prodigy who knows nothing of emotions. A tormented asshole."

Blue met green. The tension was increasing heavily, and it felt like you couldn't even cut through it with a kunai. Clouds filled the sky, and it got colder. Goosebumps trailed Sakura's skin as Naruto went on.

"Who's to say that he's just a liar? He's a horrible—". Naruto didn't have the time to finish as Sakura lunged forward, punching him in the abdomen. Her deadly chakra-laced punch landed him squarely on the ground meters away from her. He groaned as his shoulders limped, hitting the blue-grayish colored concrete walkway. The air was quiet, and Naruto suddenly just felt like sleeping.

But he couldn't let her leave.

'_I thought I couldn't interfere with true love, but how can I just let her leave…' _What would Hinata say, much less Ino or Kakashi? And **how **could Tsunade-baachan just let Sakura waltz out on her own with** him**? Sooner or later, she would get in trouble.

'…_and I can't help her then. And who the__** fuck **__is going to be Ino's maid of honor?' _

He clenched and unclenched his fists, ignoring the sparks of pain that emitted through his body whenever he moved, caused by **her…**because of **him.** Naruto rolled his eyes.

It wasn't fair. What was he, prune to destruction?

He sighed sadly, tears falling from his eyes, falling to the ground, staining, like droplets of crimson blood.

Memories flashing.

Screams echoing.

His nails dug into the ground at the remembrance. He was losing it.

'_Dad you should have KILLED ME WHEN YOU GOT THE CHANCE!' _

"Will you listen to me? It's what I want, so you will have to expect it." she said crisply.

Her voice was so far away…so far…

Her laugh reminded him of yells.

Her smile reminded him of a fallen angel.

Oh my, he was losing it. Maybe he would end up as a psycho after the war.

'_How should I remember her? Maybe their should be a Sakura Day. Ha ha…ha ha…' _

He groaned again. "Sakura-chan please…please…just don't leave for my sake…"

'_The smile when you tore me apart!' _

This was emotionally disturbing. It was like a lovesick, deadly ending poem, or a scene from a dark intentional movie. Was he going to die? Kyuubi chakra roared inside of him, but right now he was just jumbled.

Was he visually impaired? Did he have a thorn in his eye?

WHAT THE FUCK?!

In a second she was behind his limp body as she delicately fell to her knees, stroking his electric blond hair. Carefully, she pressed her two fingers onto his pressure points. She watched cerulean eyes widen, and then slowly, close.

Could have been forever, but now we reached the end.

_Sparkling angel I believed  
You were my saviour in my time of need.  
Blinded by faith I couldn't hear  
All the whispers, the warnings so clear.  
I see the angels,  
I'll lead them to your door.  
There's no escape now,  
No mercy no more.  
No remorse cause I still remember  
The smile when you tore me apart._

You took my heart,  
Deceived me right from the start.  
You showed me dreams,  
I wished they'd turn into real.  
You broke your promise and made me realize.  
It was all just a lie.

Sparkling angel, I couldn't see  
Your dark intentions, your feelings for me.  
Fallen angel, tell me why?  
What is the reason, the thorn in your eye?

I see the angels,  
I'll lead them to your door  
There's no escape now  
No mercy no more  
No remorse cause I still remember  
The smile when you tore me apart

You took my heart,  
deceived me right from the start.  
You showed me dreams,  
I wished they'd turn into real.  
You broke the promise and made me realize.  
It was all just a lie.  
Could have been forever.  
Now we have reached the end.

This world may have failed you,  
It doesnt give you reason why.  
You could have chosen a different path in life.

The smile when you tore me apart.

You took my heart,  
Deceived me right from the start.  
You showed me dreams,  
I wished they'd turn into real.  
You broke your promise and made me realize.  
It was all just a lie.

'_How ironic. If only Sasuke-kun was here.' _Sakura's eyes filled with tears as she gently laid her head on his body, feeling the rough material of the olive green jounin vest he was wearing and slept.

**Dear Saki,**

**Anata Wa? And you are…my cousin. Unbelievable. I want to say how sorry I am, to cry in your arms for the first-and last time that we will ever be together. Our relationship will always be strained no matter what, but remember, we are still blood. That might disgust you, but remember…I am your blood.**

**Dear Ino,**

**Anata Wa? Well, this is probably the most hardest thing I will ever do. When you read this, think to yourself about every single thing we have done good and bad. Who are we really? We chose this life, this military-styled ninja world and truthfully, I am sick of it. Take care, please, for my sanity.**

**Dear Naruto,**

**ANATA WA? Who are we? You were my savior. **

**Dear Sasuke,**

**…what is there to say? Thank you. **

* * *

"Sakura."

It was about four in the morning, the sky was clearer now. Sakura woke up startled—only to be staring into the incredibly sexy Sharingan.

The sound of her faint breath hitching made him kiss her passionately.

"Are you finished with everything, delivering letters, talking?" he asked, holding her hand. His gaze lowered to the tear-stained Jinchuuriki's vest that she was lying upon. He was knocked out, nestled against the rocks peacefully, oddly.

Hesitantly, Itachi reached out for her milky hand and shakily, she took it and rose. Sakura nodded, her green eyes surprisingly eager.

'_This is not going to be an easy ride. More like a deadly rollercoaster.' _

She smiled. "Let's go sweetie." They walked sneakily out of Konoha, watching. As Sakura sped throughout the treetops, she smiled as she noticed the funny expression smothered onto Itachi's beautiful face.

**The next morning….**

It was sunny and bright, a blue cloudless day. Camp was set up and Sakura nestled happily and snug against Itachi's taut chest. She frowned. Itachi noticed and pushed a lock of bubblegum colored hair out of her face. She looked well rested now except for the sad smile.

"What?"

Sakura stared at him and took a breath. "There is something I need to say."

* * *

"OH MY GOD!"

Pairs of hands shook him awake as bright blue eyes opened to meet the equally bright sun. Ino shook him nonstop, ignoring the cries of Shikamaru and Hinata. For a moment, his mind was fuzzy, but then the events from last night (AKA earlier this morning) reentered his mind. He abruptly leaned up. His friends surrounded him.

Most.

Ino's face was stained was tears and Saki was off sitting on the cursed bench. In everyone's hands were their own personal scrolls, tied with a pink ribbon. Naruto felt Hinata's lips and then her soft hands place his own letter into his calloused palm.

Was he dreaming…was he dead?

Was he…crazy?

"Anata wa Sakura-chan? Anata wa, anata wa? Who's to say that we know who we are? Because eventually, we'll all go crazy being shinobi." He whispered crazily. Hinata and Neji shared looks.

One look at the tear-stained faces, and Naruto…knew he was going to need some help.

"How do we recover?" he asked shakily.

Ino looked at him. "By doing what forehead girl tried to tell us, find ourselves despite what we think, we'll always be different." She reasoned quietly, even though she sounded unsure herself.

Naruto closed his eyes and started to cry. "Anata wa?"

* * *

Itachi was kind of nervous. He stroked her hand and gazed at her.

"Tell me."

Sakura took a deep breath.

"I'm pregnant."

* * *

**-THE END-**

**OWARI.**

**WELL HELLO EVERYONE!! YES, I AM NOT DEAD! -Disclaimer-**

**Thank you everyone who helped me throughout this story. I loved every moment of this and this ending chapter made me cry, and I hope I get a ton of reviews because I but my mind soul and blood into this! (well…) It was very emotional and I really, really, really, hope you enjoyed. Your reviews are my fuel here. **

**Special thanks to Lady Hanaka, BlackBelt-chan, and Marielle Fernandez.**

**I love everyone.**

**Sayonara for now, keep reading my stories-I will continue! **

**Love,**

**Shadowsakura321 AKA Pri. P.S. THESE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING SONGS ARE CALLED 'MEMORIES' AND **

**'ANGELS' BY WITHIN TEMPTATION--GREAT! **


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